II 









DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



IN THE \7 A R 



By 



DIXON »1 E P. R I T T 

t 

Assistant in Charge, Press Service. 









^ 






Page 

The Task and The Tools 1 

Work felt on every hand 2 

Scope of Department's activi- 
ties *-- 3 

Food production problem- 5 

Peace-time laws meet war-time 

needs 6 

Divide responsibilities 8 

Emergency funds 9 

ffice of Farm Management . 11 

City and town people help 

harvest crops 11 

Labor-saving machinery 13 

Licensing manufacturers of 

farm machinery 15 

Wheat-production survey 16 

Weather Bureau 19 

Train soldiers in meteor- 
ological work 20 

Cooperate with aerial mail 

service- 22 

Forest Service- 24 

Use of wood in modern warfare-- 25 

Artificial drying of uood 26 

Wood-testing experiments 28 

Timber supply and production — - 31 
Protection of tunnels and 

bridges 32 

Forest specialists in mili- 
tary service 34 

New ranges opened for stock 

grazing 36 

Train foresters in France 37 

Bureau of Animal Industry 40 

Lie at Inspection Division 40 

Protecting meat supply from 

contamination- 41 

Stimulating food production 42 

Emergency poultry campaign 44 

Back-yard poultry keeping 45 

Work of Dairy Division 46 

Pasteurizing facilities en- 
larged 47 

Sugar substitutes found- 49 

Campaign against animal 

diseases 50 

Cattle-tick eradication 51 

Hog-cholera control 52 

Controlling tuberculosis 

in live stock 54 



K T E N T S 



Page 

BacteriaJ. culture furnished 55 

Anthrax serum supplied 57 

Exclusion of contagion from 

abroad- , , 58 

Bureau of Plant Industry 60 

Plant-disease control 61 

Undertakes sap-stain prevention — 62 
Handbook of plant diseases pre- 
pared 64 

Equipment lent to war-research 

organizations • 65 

Increase production of long- 
staple cotton 66, 

Substitute for raffia in making 

camouflage- 68 

Castor-bean production increased- 68 

Eradication of. common barberry 70 

Results accomplished 71 

Smut prevention through seed 

treatment 73. 

Beet-sugar production — '■ — - 75 

Extension of the sorghum sirup 

industry '■ 76 

Supervise agricultural- work at 

cantonments- 78 

Salvaging of fruit and vegetable 

crop- 79 

Bureau of Chemistry 81 

Department chemists prompt to aid 82 

Acetic acid from alcohol- 83 

ifeny new food processes pre- 
sented-- 85 

Substitutes for flour and sugar-- 86 

Economies in fats and oils — > 87 

Millions saved in grain and 

cotton fires 89 

Grain dust explosions checked 91 

Dehydration work benefits peace- 
times 92 

Preserving shoes and harness 93 

Waterproofing for tents and 

paper — 94 

Gives standards for war pur- 
chases— 96 

Aid for airplane photography- 97 

Developing airplane smoke screens 99 

Gas-mask work invaluable- 100 

Detect ground glass in food 101 

Bureau of Soils 104 

Drawing nitrogen from the air 104 



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Page 

Bureau of Crop Estimates • 107 

Stimulating grain production -- 108 

Crop statistics gave good service 109 

Bureau of Entomology 111 

Protecting airplane wood from in- 
sects--- 112 

Bureau deals death to cooties 113 

Entomologists in Army service 115 

Saving crops from insects 117 

Insecticide supply important 119 

bureau of Biological Survey 121 

Total feasts for the rats 122 

War on animal enemies to food 123 

Cooperation given to States- 125 

Bureau of Public Roads 126 

Roadways rushed to cantonments 127 

Road bureau aids shipbuilding 128 

Show how to pour concrete ships — 130 

Highways council averts delays 131 

Selecting most imperative work — - 133 
Pass o» projects involving mil- 
lions 134 

Diverting resources for greatest 

needs 135 

States Relations Service 136 

Swelling army of field workers 137 

Northern workers solve corn prob- 
lem 138 

Southern workers win crop diver- 
sity 140 

Reach more than 3,000,000 women — 142 
Taking the message to the family- 143 
What was done on cur islands 145 

Bureau of Markets 147 

Cooperative purchasing and market- 
ing - 148 

Opening up foreign markets 150 

Adapting cotton to airplanes 151 

Substitute for balloon silk 153 

Stopping waste in food grains 154 

Over 10,000,000 market reports 156 

War produces new market service-- 157 

Timely information on seed 159 

Reforms in merchandising methods- 160 
Inspection service aids Food Ad- 
ministration 162 

Grading for Grain corporation 163 

Distributing nitrate to farmers — 165 

nivision of Publications 167 

Valuable bulletins help win war — 168 
Posters and films carry measures- 172 
Motion picture work effective 174 



Page 
Office of Exhibits 176 

Exhibits instruct crowds at 

fairs - 176 

Office of Information 180 

Valuable articles issued 

through press 181 

Direct circulation reaches 

.nil lions 183 

Insecticide and Fungicide Board — 185 

Library 187 

Office of Fertilizer Control 189 

Fertilizer benefits to be per- 
manent 190 

Stabilizing fertilizer market- 191 
Office of Farm Equipment Control- 193 

Emergency War Work with seed 194 

Equalizing seed distribution — 195 

Remedying drought damage 196 

Reserve seed supply kept 198 

Insuring price of wheat 200 

make good crop failures 201 

Seed Grain Loans in Drought- 
stricken areas- 203 

Valuable assistance to farmers 204 
National Agricultural Advisory 

Committee 206 

Agricultural Commission to Europe- 207 



K 



T'ffi TASK AND THE TOOLS . 

Y.'hen, in April, 1917, the United States of America became a party to 
the World War, the high spirit of the old Srusaders came out of the dust 
of deal centuries and stood again upon stricken fields against the in- 
fidel—infidel to the faith of human freedom. 

Purer purpose was never more righteously wrought out to conclusion 
so gloricus . The national purpose became the personal purpose. It per- 
meated everywhere and inspired everything. The soldier alone in a shell 
hole out beyond the front-line trenches; the sailor adown the long lanes of 
an infested ocean; the scientist in his laboratory; the worker in foundry 
and forest, at ship yard and powder plant; the farmer between the plow 
handles in the rows of whispering corn; the woman, nursing wounded men in 
the glare of bursting sheila, or scrimping two neal3 out of one in her 
kitchen at home, or knitting on into the night; the child, foregoing candy 
that the pennies might be caved for war st?mps — from zcp to bottom and 
through and through, the Nation fought for nothing selfish and nothing sor- 
did but for the 9ir.pic right of all men everywhere to live their own liver., 
' unhin^orer 1 , and unafraid. 

The Department of Agriculture had share in it all. It claims merely to 
have done its duty, not more. And yet these many pages of type are required 
to tell the story in barest outline. 



-2- 

Wqrk Felt on Eve rjMfend. A 
For the story does not stop with the master task of stimulating the 
production of enough food to keep the ailiec 1 world in fighting form. It 
goet) to every branch of the fighting forces and to every nook of the sup- 
porting organizations. It is difficult to touch the army anywhere , foot, 
hon-e or dragoons, in camp or o;i the march or "going over the top," that 
the practical work of cne bureau or another of the department was not felt. 
Every rjoldier, wher he took up hi? mess plate; when he put on his shoes to 
march through mud and slush; when he went to bed under a tent that did not 
leak, with no "cooties" scourging under kin and no rats running over him; 
when he ran into a gas pocket and came out with unshriveled lungs; whenever 
he turned and whatever he did, he reaped some benefit of the activities of 
the Department of Agriculture . For it inspected nearly every piece of meat 
that went to the Army and the Navy. It had men in it3 laboratories in Wash- 
ington testing shoe leathers and methods of waterproofing them, and it had 
other men out through the hille and hollows and broad plains of the country 
instructing farmers how to take the hide off a dead cow so that it would 
make the best shoes for soldiers. All the way between, through every process 
and at e^ery turn, it watched out for the soldiers' shoes. It looked to the 
waterproofing of his tent. It evolved baling papers to keep his food sweet 
and his powder dry as it came over seas. Its workers gave their bodies as 
feeding grounds for lice in order to find protection against them for the 
soldier. It sent its rat exports to the trenches in France, to the campf3 at 
home and to the storage houses on both sides of the ocean to save the soldier 
from rat-borne filth and plague. Its plant scouts had found, in far corners 
of the earth, supplies of the beat materials for gas masks. 0nc3, when tho 



-3- 

Gormans began shooting a new and unknown deadly gas, it happened that enme 
organic chemists in the Department of Agriculture had made that gas syn- 
thetically 48 hours before the Germans began the use of it, and means were 
found, thereby, for saving the soldiers from it. Cotton experts of the de- 
partment made the substitute for linen wings that kept the allied airplanes 
in the sky after the Germans had bottled up the bulk of the world's supply 
of flax. 

Back in the early days of the war, when some men were discussing quan- 
tity production of various things that had to be made out of thoroughly 
seasoned ^vood — such as airplane propellers, gun stocks, parts of the ships 
that were to carry the Army to France and supply it when it got there — some 
one inquired, "Do the gentlemen realize that the birds are still building 
nests in the trees from which those things must be made?" That vas true. 
Under old methods, the far year 1923 would have come and gone before some 
of the woods required in 1917 could have been sufficiently seasoned. The 
forestry experts of the Department of Agriculture developed methods under 
which the seasoning processes that would have required years were completed 
in as many months. They found substitutes for many woods that could not be 
had in sufficient quantities. They went to France, regiments strong, and 
sawed the timber necessary for the expeditionary forces. They did scores 
of things to make the wood work of war complete and prompt. 

Fcope of Dep a rtmen t's Activities. 

The Department of Agriculture locked after the roads over which prac- 
tically every soldier of the millions marched during his training days and 
over which his food was hauled to camp. It watched the weather for the fly- 
ing forces, for the artillery, for the transport systems and for the sotting 



-4- 
f orth. of 9oldier3 upon the high seas - It watched the Army mounts and the 
Army mules to keep them free of shipping fever and other diseases incident 
to their arduous duties. It cooperated with every department and with 
every agency that had to do directly with the prosecution of the war. 

But all this amounts to no mere than to summarize a summary. It makes 
the half, or nearly so, of what is told in the accounts of the war activi- 
ties of the seventeen bureaus, divisions, and offices that make up the 
department . 

The other somewhat more than half has to do with the work of the 
Department of Agriculture in seeing that enough food was produced to feed 
not only the armies that this country was to send to France but to make 
up the food deficits of the allied nations to the end that their armies 
might remain in the field and effective, that their civilian populations 
might remain at their lathes and looms , that tho war might go on without 
let-up of pressure anywhere against the horde of super-civilized savages 
who were stabbing at the heart of Liberty. 

The food reserves of the world, in those spring days of 1917, were 
very low. The whole earth was on short rations. It looked as though, 
with the coming of another winter, actual hunger and even starvation might 
be abroad . 

About that time there went out to the people of the United States a 
mighty appeal to save food. Every window, almost, in every city and every 
town, in every hamlet and a.t every cross roads, was placarded with posters, 
declaring that food would win the war, admonishing not to waste it, there- 
fore. Every man, every wonan, every child in the United States heard and 
saw that appeal, and most of them gave heed. 



-5- 
F ood JPrqducti o:-_ Pro blem. 

But very many of them, likely, never stopped to think that before food 
car. be saved it must be produced. Most of then did not know that a falling 
off of five per cent in the acreage planted to food crops in the United States 
would more than offset all the saving that in reason could be cone and 
would leave the world face to face with stark starvation. 

If food shortage was to be averted, if a weakening of morale of the arms 
directed against Germany was to be turned aside, not only must the. farmers 
of the united States plant as many acres to food crops as they had planted 
ir? normal years but they must materially increase those acres. 

That was the primary and ponderous problem the solution of which the 
war, on the day that the United States became a party to it, imposed upon 
the Department of Agriculture and its cooperating agencies. 

Now, it is something to ask a man to save food, to eat a little less 
of certain things. It is a great deal more to ask a farmer greatly to in- 
crease his plantings. That means an increase in outlay out of proportion 
to the increase in acreage. It means, in every case, the risk of loss and, 
if drought or flood or frost or other disaster come, it may mean ruin — as 
it did mean to many American farmers in 1917. 

For the thing was to be done under many and great difficulties. It wa3 
to be done with greatly reduced man power. A million farmers and farm work- 
ers went into military service . Other hundreds of thousands were taken away 
by war industries other than agriculture. Fertilizers were scarce and 
hardly to be had at all. Many of the materials that go into farm machinery 
were called for by direct war needs. Nothing that the farmer used was to be 
had so easily, so cheaply or so abundantly as usual and many things were not 



to be had at all. Here, again, was Israel set to make bricks without straw— 
and made then. For plantings were increased that year by 3 5,000,000 acres 
ovei the average, and the 1318 plantings were increased by another 5,8C0,COO 
acres . 

Acreage is a more accurate measure than yields of the war effort of 
American farmers, but the yield figures tell a striking story. Both crop 
seasons — 1917 and 1916 — were unfavorable over large sections, the former 
especially for wheat and the latter for corn. Notwithstanding, the yield 
of the leading cereals in each of these years exceeded those of any preced- 
ing year in the Nation's history with the single exception of 1915. 

The task of securing a more ample supply of meat and dairy products 
was equally important and was not less successfully carried out. 
P^ac.'e.«t ime jjejbb. Meet Vfa.r-Tir.iB Needs . 

If credit is to be apportioned for that, it goe3 first to the patriotism 
of the American farmer and, next, to the fact that the United States, agri- 
culturally considered, -was prepared for war. Much of national legislation, 
enacted for peace purposes, did not fit at ail for war needs. Some of it 
had to be remade; a great deal of it had to he reshaped. But, by some for- 
tune, the national legislation for the promotion of peace-time agriculture 
hung a3 fittingly upcn the form of war as if made for it. The cooperative 
agricultural-extension act, providing for the system of county agricultural 
agents and home demonstration agents; the cotton futures act, establishing 
definite standards for cotton; the Federal farm loan act, creating a bank- 
ing system suited to the needs of the farmer; a provision in the Federal re- 
serve act, authorizing national banks to lend money on farm mortgages; the 



_7- 

Federal aid road act, providing for cooperation between the Federal and 
Staie Governments in the building cf roads— all of these laws , enacted with- 
in the four year? prior to 1S17, served to meet very definite needs in 
mobilizing the Nation's agricultural resources for war. 

When, two days after a state of war was declared to exist, the Secretary 
of Agriculture held a conference in St . Louis with representatives of agri- 
Cultural colleges and State departments of agriculture, there v/as ready a 
national agricultural system with considerable legal authority for carrying 
out the plans there mads for stimulating agricultural production. It needed 
some enlargement, of course, and this was forthcoming. 

Or. August 10, 1917, Congress passed the food production act, "to provide 
further for the national security and defense by stimulating agriculture and 
facilitating the distribution of agricultural products." The act was to be 
administered by the Department of Agriculture, and it carried an appropria- 
tion of §11,345 ,400. 

It was to be expended in: 

1. The prevention, control and eradication of the 
diseases and pests of live stock; the enlargement of 
]ive-stock production; and the conservation and utiliza- 
tion of meat, poultry, dairy, and other animal products, 
$885,000 

2. Procuring, storing, ard furnishing seeds for cash 
at cost to farmers in restricted areas where emergency con- 
ditions prevailed, $2,500,000. 

3. The prevention, control, and eradication of in- 
sects and plant diseases injurious to agriculture, and the 
conservation and utilization of plant products, $441,000. 

4. The further development of the Extension Service in 
cooperation with the agricultural colleges in the States, 
|4,348,400. 



-8- 

5. Surveys of the food supply of the United States, 
gathering and disseminating information concerning faria 
products, extending and enlarging the market news se-rvicee, 
preventing waste of food in storages in transit, or held 
for sale, giving advice concerning the market movement or 
distribution of perishable products , and investigating and 
certifying to shippers the conditions as to soundness of 
fruits, vegetables, and other food products received at 
important central markets, $2,522,000. 

5. The development of the information work of the 
department, enlarging the facilities for dealing with the 
farm-labor problem, and extending the work of the Bureaus 
of Crop Estimates, Chemistry, and Biological Survey, 
&55CG0G. 

Cut of this money, no new organization had to be formed. The things 
tc be dene were things on which the Department of Agriculture was already 
engaged, into which much of the money regularly appropriated fcr its main- 
tenance was already going. The emergency money furnished the means, merely, 
for intensifying some lines of work and broadening the scope of others. 

Divide Regpons i bilities . 

The expenditure of additional emergency money was entrusted to the 
Department of Agriculture. Congress appropriated $4,000,000 in addition to 
the £2, 500, G0C carried in the food-production act, for the purchase and sale 
of 3eed to farmers for cash at cost. The food control act, another piece of 
war legislation, carried an appropriation of ^10,000,000 to be used in the 
purchase and sale to farmers of nitrate of soda for fertilizer. The re- 
sponsibilities of administration were divided between the War Trade Board 
and the Department of Agriculture, purchases to be me.de by the former and 
sale and distribution by the latter. 

The food control act, while not administered primarily by the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, did impose upon it a number of duties, and some of 
these having to be rerformed outside of -the constituted ~i-ji::aax.3 . made a 



• 9- 
measure of new organization necessary. Under that head came the licensing 
of the farm-machinery industry, of the ammonia industry, of the fertilizer 
industry, of stockyards and related industries, the purchase and sale of 
nitrate of soda to farcers , the purchase and sale of seed to farmers in 
areas where emergency conditions prevailed, toe other new activity entered 
into the work of the department. An allotment of $5,000,000 to he ad- 
ministered by the Department of Agriculture was made from the President's 
special fund to he used as loans to farmers in the drought -st richer, re- 
gions of the 'Vest. This, however, was looked after by permanent employees 
of the department. 

Emer gency Fundo^ 
AH of these appropriations were fcr the year ending June 30 ; 1913. 
Emergency funds used after that time were provided in an act to enable the 
Secretary of Agriculture to carry out, during the following year, the pur- 
poses of the food production act of 1917. It carried new appropriations 
totaling $11,031,853 to be expended in: 

1. The enlargement of live-stock production, the con- 
servation and utilization of neat, poultry, dairy and- other 
animal products ana the control of live-stock diseases and 
pests, $1,058,975. 



te 



2. The conservation and utilization of plant product 
s:id the control of insects and plant diseases injurious to 
agriculture, $811, SCO. 

3. Increasing food production, eliminating v/aste and 
promoting conservation of food, educational and demonat rational 
methods through county, district, and urban agents, and others, 

$5,100,000. 

4. Gathering information as to the demand, production, 
supply, distribution and utilization of food, extending and 
enlarging market news services, preventing waste of food in 
storage or in transit or held for sale, advice concerning the 
market movements and distribution of perishable products, and 



-10- 

inspection and certification of perishable agricultural products, 

$1,955,608. 

5. Aiding various agencies in supplying farm labor, print- 
ing eai distributing emergency natter, special work in crop es- 
timating and 3ome miscellaneous items, Jl. 105, 980. 

The two revolving fund appropriations for furnishing seed, one for 
§",500,000 and the other for £4,000, 000 wero continued, not, however, in- 
volving any new funds. The same is true of the $10,000,000 revolving fund 
under the food control act for furnishing, nitrate to farmers. 

This, then, covers the emergency money appropriated to the Department 
of Agriculture for the performance of it3 war-time tasks. The regular 
appropriations were used, in very large part, for work toward winning the 
war . 

The primary purpose of nearly all Government expenditures from April 
7, 1917, till November 11, 1918, was to win the war. All money effica- 
ciously spent in that way was, of course, well spent. But much of it got 
results beyond the evA of hostilities — permanent results for the long years 
of peace that are to follow the winning of the war. That is true of a very 
large part of what was done by the Department of Agriculture, the story of 
which is told in the following chapters. 



•II- 



T1E OFFICE OF FAB 1 i^MSMEEfT. 

Immediately after it was known that the United States was to "be 
involved in the war, the regular work of the Office of Farm .Management 
was directed toward contributing to the needs cf the time. One of the 
constantly grave war problems was the shortage of farm labor. There 
were timer when the situation was critical; when it threatened even to 
be disastrous. The Office of Farm "lanagemer.t, assisted in some necessary 
particulars by administrative officers of the department, formed an 
organization to help the farmers obtain the necessary labor for produc- 
ing the increased food demanded of them. Special attention was given to 
a fuller use o^ far;:: machinery and the distribution of agricultural labo; „ 
This latter work was done in cooperation with the Department of Labor. 

A farm help- specialist was placed in every state by the Department 
of Agriculture. With headquarters at the State agricultural colleges, 
these specialists cooperated with the colleges and experiment stations, 
State councils of defense, commio^xoners of agriculture, State commis- 
sioners of labor, and the employment offices of the United States De- 
partment of Labor. The State farm-help specialist kept in touch with 
the county agricultural agents in all the comities of his State, and 
these , through community farm bureaus and committees, were in direct 
touch with individual farmers and their needs. 

CiLY._sn_d JDpwu People Help Harvest Crons . 

Farm-help specialists in every State took an active part in bring- 
ing to the attention of the district draft boards the necessity of dis- 



tinguishing between the degrees of skill of different kinds of farm labor 
in ,.ia!<ing a selection for military service. In every State an active 
campaign v/as carrieu on to interest city and town people in crop production 
to the extent of being willing to devote a part of their time, if necessary, 
to work of harvesting crops. This campaign was attended with great success 
in all States, but perhaps the most conspicuous success was net with in 
Kansas, Oklahoma, "lissouri, Indiana, Illinois, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and 
Oregon. 

The number of city residents who vent out to work on farms at harvest 
ti.je, as a result of this campaign, can not be estimated with certainty, but 
was v/ell beyond 250,000, In lost of the States farm bureau employment 
offices or other Iocs..] labor offices were established undei the direction of 
the fara-help specialist in order to meet the need of farms for both emergency 
and permanent labor. These offices were practically always in close connec- 
tion with the office of the county agent, and were very effective in secur- 
ing and placing permanent skilled laborers on far is. During the fiscal year 
ending June 30, 1918, there were jlaoed on farms through the operation of 
these farm-labor offices, and more especially through the county agents,, more 
than 100,000 regular farm laborers. 

Several lovoaeuts for per aanent improve vent have grown out of this work. 
The problem of aigratory seasonal labor will he studied in more detail i:i 
the areas in which it is of greatest importance. In most States the farm - 
help specialists have found it important to give special attention to in- 
tending renters and purchasers of farms. Inch attention was given in aoit 
of the States to the problem of making labor more contented and, therefore, 
riore -permanent on farms* 



-13- 

A begins, ing has already been lade in s conceited effort to bring 
manufacturing industries directly connected with agricultural production 
into closer relation with the farming activities involved. For example, 
one of the large tobacco companies, at the suggestion of the farm-help 
specialist in Maryland, is considering the proposition of establishing 
a portion of its oanufecturing business in the center of the tooacco sec- 
tion of southern Maryland, in order to ;dve profitable \» inter employment 
to the aen -.£ o, during the su..amer, wor': on tobacco farms, This plan, if 
realized, will not only provide these aen v/ith all-year employment, but 
will aaicc possible more attractive social coirditions by taeana of the 
community life which they v/ill be able to enjoy. These conditions will 
obtain more especially during the winter months, when the men give their 
attention to the aanufaoturing phase of the tobacco business. This scheme 
has already been thoroughly tested in Lancaster County, ?a«, and Iras worked 
out .-ao st admirably v/ith reference both to employment requirements and to 
the prosperity and socijl development of the community. An effort will be 
-jade in every State, where possible, to bring the various industries into 
closer cooperatron v/ith agriculture, in or dar that beneficial methods of 
labor exchange .ua T y be developed between agriculture and other industries. 

Labor -Sav ing Ivfc en iner y . 

A widespread interest was created in the further study of systems of 
cropping as related to economy of hand labor an' 1 , horse labor. Sufficient 
experience v.-as ha.C with boy labor aid woman labor to give a fairly accurate 
estimate of the place and importance of this :^ind of labor in farm opera- 
tions. The possibilities of exchaxrge of labor and farm nachinery were 
brought prominentljr before farmers in every State, v/ith the result that 



-14- 
syste is of exchange of lcboi were adopted on a ouch vrider plan than 
ever aefoie. as a single ite 1 of sue; schejes of cooler afcion .aay jc 
mentioned the fact that in the tnree States of Onio, Indians, s id 
.Illinois iau>" thrashing rings nave of.ea for jed, each involving froa 
three to twenty farms. 

She labor shortage e.i yhasrze-. the neeu. of larger laachines and 
teams than hed generally been used, the introduction 0f such farm aachin- 
ery as would permit one flan to perform the greatest possible aniount of 
wor.c, and the need of acquainting farjsers v/ith the advantages of these 
aids to efficiency. The work ireviously carried on of collecting and com- 
piling information about far a equipment .?as accelerated and broadened, with 
special reference to the needs just mentioned. The newly-gained informa- 
tion was :iade available in bulletins for free distribution, largely through 
the aid of actual photographs contrasting labor ana time-consuming practices 
. • followed in certain sections with improved methods found specially 
efficient elsewhere, 'fethods were presented of economising nan labor in 
general farm practices, but particularly in methods of harvesting and 
hayr^cing. Such specially- illustrated publications were in great demand* 

^asides the pictorial presentation of labor-saving davioes and jeth- 
ods. otner publications treated of the care and operation of various f .r J 
machines, and the care of the oi'Ops which those machines handled. ^ 10 ng 
thesa crops were the especially vital ones of wheat, corn, and hay. Concise 
information was given as to fcha efficient operation of thrashing aaohines, 
thereby riding in the conservation of grain at thrashing time. The im- 
portance of this work is shown b : . the fact that the j?ood Administration had 
men continually in the field in the important grain-producing districts of 



-15- 

the country, testing grain separators and obser"ing their operation. 
The material so published has found continue.. :sc :or instructional pur- 
poses. 

She gas tractor received during the war exceptional notoriety rs 
a labor saver. Extravagant and questionable claims «7si6 made concerning 
this .lachine, but it is certain that in very aa&uy cases the use of trac- 
tors enabled kiaeriean faroers to prepare, plant, and Cr.re for greater 
acreages of crops with less man labor than would have be:;n possible by 
the use of horses only. She tractor brought taore inquiries than did any 
oth;5r machine or phase of fsxn equipment. To provide naedsd information 
over 10,000 reports were secured from e:;per ienced tractor owners, which, 
with ot^ier date already on file, v;ere incorporated into bulletins adapted i 
to the needs of particular regions, special attention being given to t'.ie 
capabilities and limitations of tractors. This information was especially 
applicable to the Central West -dnc to the Eastern ctates„ Other bulletins 
of the hind were in preparation et tie end of the war. 

Li cens ing* rfcniifgcturers of rhr.ii Mac h inery . 

The Secretary cf agriculture placed the licensing of all fara-ms- 
chinery manufacturers under a separate office, the staff of which in- 
cluded one raeaiber of tLe st^ff of the Office of Fsin Management. The 
chief purposes of the licensing and regulation of the -janufecturers of 
farm machinery -rtie to conserve steel for war material by eliminating 
all unnecessary farm machinery, and to maintain fair and equitable 
prices on ell far. -a equipment under the jurisdiction of the office. 

The preparation of a "Geography of the ho: Id's Agriculture" had 
been undertaken so.ae time oefore the wa* , and was not a war pioject,, "ov.t 



-16- 

it proved a timely publication, appearing just when the attention of all 
was turned to pro"ble..is cf bhe world's supply of foods end raw materials 
of agricultural production. It was in great demand, especially by Govern- 
ment officials who had to deal with supplies or with the stimulation of 
production. 

In planning for Increased agricultural production as a war measure, 
if the area cultivated was to be increased, it was thought safer to in- 
crease the area of crops in section" where agricultural practices were 
established and where production had least risks. One question raised 
was to what extent areas devoted to hay, forage, and pasture could be 
utilised in the pioduction of cereals and other crops. It seeded to be 
particularly important to asoertain the amount and location of agricul- 
tural lend in farms not utilized by raising crops. The Bureau of the 
Census, in 1910, collected data showing the amount of pasture land in 
farms, but this information had not "been tabulated. The Census Bureau 
granted permission to the Office of Farm Management to tabulate these 
data, which was done, and the results were published in Jfey, 1918, as 
Department Bulletin 626, Pasture £and in Farms in the United States. 

Wheat-Production Sarvey . 

In the spring of 1918 the shortage of the supply of wheat was keen- 
ly felt everywhere. The office had in progress for the Atlas of Kmericen 
.Agriculture a study of wheat production in the United States and other 
parts of the world. The figures under consideration were brought up to 
date as nearljr as possible and published in the 1917 Yearbook under tho 
title ; 'The Y/orld's Supply of '.7heat." The same material was also used in 
part in the preparation of Circular 90 of the Office of the Secretary, 



-17- 

•'The Agricultural Situation for 1918, '.'jheat." These publications showed 
the effects cf the war on wheat production in other countries, enforced 
the idea that wheat must "be saved for the Allies, and showed clearly the 
necessity for great efforts to increase the wheat production of the 
United states. 

In the summer of 1918, incidentally to the inquiry which was oigaa- 
izod under the direction of Colonel House m He,/ York to col]ect data- 
preparatory for a peace conferences, the Department of Agriculture was 
asked to cooperate in studying the resources of several countries in- 
volved in the "jar. The Office of iaiu Management undertook to collect 
statistics of the agricultural resources of these- countries, to visualize 
then on naps, and to accompany then by such remits as might be necessary. 
Worlc was first begun on Russia, lusti ia-Hungary, the Balkan countries, 
and Turkey. Later, the German colonies Li Africa were studied intensively, 
While the collection of this ,.i£tciial rfts in piogrsss, the iu nd otcte 
Departments frequently called upon the Office of Farm Management for' in- 
formation concerning tire production of the several countries « The ,hr De- 
partment was furnished mips of tire- production of wheat and rye in Si-.ei.i- 
and Bussia, and statistics, tables, and notes on the agriculture and agri- 
cultural conditions in Russia. The distribution of live stoci: n:l the 
production of cro_-s in .s.ustxia-Hungary, the Balkan States, end _si-tic 
Turkey, and precipitation in Turkey v ere flapped and submitted to menbers 
of the inquiry staff who have beco.je jemoeis of the inericc--- Co.ia.iision 
to negotiate Peace = The maps shewing the distribution of ii~y stocK: an.; 
sojs crops in tho former "ermeaj-African colonics, and one ^aap eacn of the 
international trade in wheat and in wool, have also been submitted. 



, - 13 - 

These nape were intended to visualize facts in such a way cs to aid 
th6 jfijiD^rs cf the co .mission to understand the problem involved, with 
reference to agriculture, in changing boundaries, establishing nev/ states 
and changing political control. Their usefulness lias been attested, by a 
■peruber of the cora-iission, who, in a letter from Psris under date of 
March 12, 1919, says: "The maps are admirably executed and have 'oven of 
the greatest service in enabling us to determine reedily by visual in- 
spection how any proposed frontier would affect the distribution of prod- 
ucts, and I can. assure you that the results have been of substantial value 
in helping us to fr.^e our recommendations. I lenov; that the oien wording 
in the field of Asiatic Turkey are very enthusiastic over what you have 
given the .a." 



WEATHER 3 U R E A U 

On the declaration that there existed a state of war by Germany 
upon the United States, the Weather Bureau, realizing that the science 
of meteorology was likely to be largely drawn upon in connection with 
the conduct of military operations, took immediate steps to organize 
its resources for th9 part that it would evidently be called upon to 
play in the conflict. Largely due to the use of airplanes, dirigibles 
and captive balloons, the highly perfected and powerful artillery and 
the modern methods of warfare first brought into practice in this war, 
foreknowledge of existing and expected weather conditions, both in the 
air and on the surface, were of great consequence. For its work in 
this connection, the bureau was already largely prepared through its 
corps of trained weather forecasters and its experience in the taking 
of meteorological observations both on the surface and in the upper air. 
It needed only an enlargement of its facilities in oi-der creditably to 
perform the duties required of it. An early appropriation by Congress 
provided for much needed extension of its program of aerological observa- 
tions. 

One of the bureau's most efficient forecasters and the official in 
charge of aerologicr.l work of the bureau were commissioned as Majors in 
the Signal Officers Reserve Corps and, proceeding to the field of opera- 
tions, were placed in charge respectively of the weather forecasting 
and military aerological work in France. They were reinforced soon 



- 20 - 

after by a trained staff of meieorologis+s f>nd observers taken largely 
from the ranks of the Weather Bureau. These skilled forecasters and 
observers, in cooperation with the French and English meteorologists, 
supplied the Army commanders with every species of meteorological in- 
formation needed for The most effective work of the infantry, artillery, 
airplanes, poison gas, etc. The service was based on surface observa- 
tions over Western Europe and the British Isles and aerological ob- 
servations made in France by pilot balloons and other special equipment. 
This was cupplemented by nightly telegrams from the central office of 
the Weather Bureau containing representative weather reports from the 
eastern districts of the United States, Canada and the Atlantic coast. 
Approximately 190 of the trained employees of the Weather Bureau 
enlisted in the Army and Navy for duty mostly in meteorological units 

in the United States and France. 

Train Soldiers in Lieteorologi cgl TTork 
The Weather Bureau assisted in the training of selected enlisted 

men of the Signal Corps in the taking of weather observations and other 

meteorological work. The training of the new soldiers in meteorological 

duties became imperative at once. About 30 were first assigned in groups 

of three to five at selected large stations. Later, nearly 200 men 

were cared for at a greater number of stations. In this way, a nucleus 

of men was quickly trained in essential duties and made familiar with 

meteorological work and principles. 

Later, the Signal Corps established the Meteorological School at 

College Station, Tex. , and selected representatives of the Weather 

Buresu to take charge of the whele course of instruction. 



The bureau established in the United States additional stations 
for observations in the free air by means of kites, balloons, airplanes, 
etc. , with the object of reporting actual conditions at different eleva- 
tions for the benefit of aviation and artillery. In portions of this 
work, close cooperation was maintained with the Signal Corps of the 
Army, which furnished observations by means of pilot balloons from about 
twenty military posts. 

Special kits flights at night were conducted from time to time at 
Potomac Park, D. 0. , and in Texas, for testing searchlights, making ex- 
periments in electricity and as an aid to artillerists in detecting 
moving objects in the air by means of searchlights. 

The bureau cooperated with the commanding officers of cantonments, 
camps, naval stations, etc., by furnishing daily weather forecasts 
and warnings of unusual and injurious weather conditions. 

In cooperation with the Surgeon General's Office, the Weather 
Bureau prepared meteorological data and made a series of observations 
required in connection with studies of dietetics, camp sanitation, 
hygiene, etc. 

By furnishing a full set of meteorological instruments and render- 
ing assistance in the training of balloonist s, this bureau cooperated 
with the Signal Corps Balloon School at Omaha, Kebr. One of the experts 
of the bureau was commissioned a lieutenant colonel and had charge of 
the school from its inception until near the close of the war. 



- 22 - 

Cooperate with Aer ial Mej.l Service 

Close cooperation was maintained with ths aerial mail service of 
the Pose Office Department in furnishing advance information of weather 
conditions likely to be encountered in the flights. Similar information 
was furnished to Army officials in connection with long distance aero- 
plane and dirigible balloon flights and in the movement of automobile 
trucks from factories to seaboards. 

Meteorological instruments being scarce and difficult to obtain, 
the Weather Bureau furnished the Army and Navy with instruments and 
apparatus to equip several meteorological stations at camps and naval 
bases and undertook the manufacture of meteorographs and other special 
apparatus urgently needed and that could not be obtained from any other 
source. 

Military officers were frequently furnished with selected and 
special information needed by them in the conduct of studies and work 
arising from military needs of various kinds not directly related to 
any of the foregoing projects. 

The Weather Bureau reported all vessels entering and leaving 

Chesapeake Bay, Hampton Road3, Gulf of Mexico, through the Cuban 

r- 

channel, Columbia River, Straight of Juan de Fuca and other harbors 

on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. It also transmitted naval and 
military business over the Weather Bureau telegraph and cable lines, 
which were frequently the only wires available,' in cooperation with 
the Coast Guard and Kaval Patrol Services. 



- 23 - 

The following publications in the aid of military meteorological 

work were issued and distributed by the Weather Bureau: 

A Short report of the Climatology of France and Belgium. 

Meteorology and Aeronautics. 

Ilean Values of Free Air Barometric and Vapor Pressures, 
Temperatures, and Densities over the United States. 

The Turning of Winds with Altitude. 

Physics of the Air. 

1'ntroductory Meteorology - A Textbook on Meteorology suitable 
for use in Instructing Men in the Students Army Training 
Corps. 

The chief of the "Jeather Bureau is by law a member of the National 
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the work of which during the war 
was concerned with military aviation. Ke is also, by selection, a member 
of the National Research Council, and as a member of the Military Committee 
of that body, he was active in many important matters that cerne before 
the council. 

The Chief Signal Officer of the Army in a recent address before 

the .American Institute of Electrical Engineers, said: 

"The success which the meteorological service of the .Army has 
attained would have been wholly impossible had it hot been for the 
intimate and effective cooperation which has been extended to it in 
rill its projects by the United States "feather Bureau." 



24- 



•-<.-: 



THE FOREST SERVICE. 

When the United States entered the war the Forest Service lost no time 
in directing its activities into channels intimately connected with the war 
effort of the Nation . Its research and field organizations immediately 
grappled with those war problems nearest at hand. Plans were made for new 
lines of war work. Without waiting for the call, preparation was made for 
full cooperation with the military tranches of the Government. The employees 
did their share, through active participation in their respective communities, 
in all movements tending to the successful termination of the war. The spirit 
in which this was done was notably exemplified by the work of the women em- 
ployees who completed the organization of Red Gross units on the day war was 
declared. 

The Forest Service began the development of forest research as one of 
its earliest activities, some 30 years ago, and during the years while the 
work gradually gained momentum the thought of preparation c'crwar did not 
enter into it materially; but the experience of the war period showed that, 
iii research, preparation for peace may be a long step forward in effective 
preparation for war. A great volume of datr ■■&ri. r-ccumulated concerning the 
stand, distribution, and quality of our forests, concerning both technical 
and economic problems of production and manufacture, and concerning the 
mechanical, physical, and chemical properties of wcod and how best it can 
be conditioned and utilized for many purposes . An organization of experts 
wa3 developed which served as a splendid nucleus for a large expansion and 
which supplied an invaluable background of knowledge, training, experience, 



-25- 

and outlook. 

Use of Ucod in llodsrn '■ Jar fare . 

The expert knowledge of wood and its problems, gained through years cf 
research, frequently enabled the Forest Service to anticipate problems long 
ahead of the men responsible for the utilization of rosults in the military 
departments . The general purpose of the Service during the war was to use 
its research organization to help wherever help was needed and to seek out 
the opportunities without waiting for formal requests. The activities of the 
Forest Service, first and last, dealt with practically every use of wood in 
modern warfare — aircraft, both heavier and lighter than- air, and for both 
land and sea, iTooden ships, military vehicles, boxe9 and crate3 , containers 
and packing in general, lumber and structural timber, offensive and defensive 
gas warfare, grain alcohol, acetate of lime, pulp and explosives, hardwood 
distillation for various purposes, wooden limbs, fiber board, wooden pipe, 
implement handles, rosin for shrapnel, naval stores products, tannin, nose- 
plugs for shells, and various pulp products. 

In order that the results secured might be known and used, cooperative 
relationships were established and maintained with practically every one of 
the numerous Governmental agencies which dealt with the war: in the Vfar De- 
partment with the General Staff, the ^ureau of Aircraft Production, Ordnance 
Department, Quartermaster General, Surgeon General, Engineer Corps, and 
Panama Canal; in the ?Javy Peparcr.eut with the Bureau of Construction and 
Repair, Steam Engineering, Yards and Docks, and Supplies and Purchase; with 
the Shipping Board, Fleet Corporation, Fuel Administration, Director General 
of Railroads , Advisory Commission of Aeronautics, War Industries Board, War 
Trade Board, with several of the Allies, and with large numbers of war 



Advice and assistance v;ere rendered members of these organizations on 
foreign and domestic timber resources, -their location, quality, production, 
and means cf increasing production, en manufacturing procesnes , ci the 
strength properties of wood and its physical and chemical properties, the 
best substitutes, methods of drying, storing, finishing, and preserving 
woods , preparation and review of specifications, inspection and training 
of men, and finally, on various economic questions relating to the wood- 
producing and wood-using industries. The activities of the organisation, 
in addition, included whatever field and laboratory investigations were 
necessary to secure basic information. 

Artificial Drying; of V/ood . 

For the airplane, the question of artificial drying of wood loomed 
early as one of first importance. Three-inch green spruce dries in the 
air in from one to two years. The Allies had practically exhausted the 
reserve stock of dry Sitka spruce before the United States became a party 
to the war. Airplane authorities insisted that only air-dried stock was 
acceptable. The pressure of the Kaiser's armies, however, required 3ome 
other answer. Forest Service kiln-drying specifications reduced the re- 
quired period by 12 times, from years tc an equal number cf months, and 
the supply of dry spruce lost its sinister place as the controlling factor 
in airplane construction. These specifications were based on several 
years' investigative work mainly on other woeds and for other purposes, 
and they have since been checked intensively. Theoretically, properly 
kiln-dried material should be better than air-dried material for the simple 
reason that it is possible, in properly regulated kilns, to maintain optimum 



7- 



conditicns throughout the entire period of seasoning, while air-drying 
permits limited regulation only. If practice sustains theorv, the result 
becomes one of first importance. The advantage in strength and toughness 
per unit of weight of spruce over its best substitutes is surprisingly 
small; but, such as it is, Great Britain crossed an cceaii and a continent 
to secure, end the United Gtate3 organized for its exploitation a body of 
men which in former wars would have beer, a large army. The work of the war 
period demonstrated that properly kiln-dried spruce is, in fact, stronger 
than that dried in the air even under the best conditions . 

Vehicle makers in the United States before the war depended tc a 
large extent upon air-dried material. Specifications for escort wagons 
called Tor stock which did not conform to the standard sizes. The ac- 
cumulated air-dried material on hand was available, therefore, only in small 
part, and it was necessary to go back to the sawmill to secure what was 
needed. Oak in large sizes for vehicle manufacture seasons naturally in 
two or three years. Dry material had to be secured in days. The kiln was 
again the only solution. The industry, however, did not have kilns, did 
not know proper methods of drying, and did not have trained operators. 
Losses from poor kilns or even gcod kilns inefficiently operated reached 
from 10 to 50 and even 100 per cent. The Rock Island Arsenal record of 
December 26 shows what car be done by suitable kilns operated by competent 
men. Spokes for 56" artillery wheels were dried with a loos of .37 of 1 
per cent, spokes for 50" wheels with a loss of .29 of 1 per cent, rims for 
56" wheels with a loss of 2 per cent, and rims for 60" wheels with a loss 
of 1 per cent. Length of time required for drying was even more important — 
and the time was reduced to one-twelfth. The type of kiln at the Rock Island 



-28- 
Arsenal was developed at the Forest Products laboratory, as were also the 
methods followed. The ran who assisted in the initial operation was a 
5e rv to e expe rt . 

The drying of 'clack walnut presented similar problems. Air-drying 
was the rule before the war. The demand for rifles required the use cf 
kilns, and with the kilns came excessive losses. It is reported that one 
plant adhering to an imperfect schedule lost 60,000 gunstock blanks, valued 
at $1.20 each when green, in a single kiln run. Concerns following closely 
methods developed by the Forest Service turned out gunstocks with losses 
not uncommonly les3 than 1 per cent. 

If the war had continued, the supply cf naturally- seasoned willow for 
artificial limbs soon would have been exhausted . For air seasoning, a 
period of three to five years is necessary. Work underway at the Forest 
Products Laboratory promises to reduce this period to 60 or 70 days with- 
out increase in losses. 

^'cod-Testing Experime n ts ■ 

A great volume of data on the strength of wood cf practically all 
American species has been built up in the Forest Service during the past 
two decades . The number of individual tests amounted at the end of the 
war to no less than 300,000 and covered 130 American species. These tests 
were cf constant and wide application during the war in airplane construc- 
tion and for practically every other use where a knowledge of the strength 
of wood waa required. For example, they made possible the preparation of 
tables showing strength values at 15 per cent moisture content which were 
adopted by both the Army and the Navy as a basis for the design of all 
wooden parts in aircraft. These data made it possible to select the species 



-29- 

most suitable Tor r-irplanes, and they showed that the variation in strength 
was so great as to render a considerable percentage of even the beat woods 
unsuitable. By a density requirement , it became possible to insure the 
selection of the strongest stock. 3y the admission cf specified defect:] 
in lightly stressed parts , it was possible practically to double the quan- 
tity of acceptable stock without sacrificing anything in safety. The 
latter problem involved little more than the application of data alraady 
available and the assignment of one man for a period of about three months. 
Many thousand men in the woods and at the mills would have been needed to 
produce the same quantity of spruce. 

One country lost many plane3 in flight because spiral-grained spruce 
was used in construction. Forest Service tests prevented similar losses 
for the United States by shewing where the lino between straight and spiral- 
grained material could bo drawn safely . Little wa3 known at the beginning 
cf the war on the strength of plywood as a material. The need for this 
information was supplied very rapidly by an extensive eeries of tests which 
became the basis of ail of the present plywood specifications and of ply- 
wood strength factors used in airplane design by both the Army and the 
Navy. In addition, the tests made it possible to adopt with safety the 
utiiiaation of mere species than had originally oeen thought suitable and 
thus prevented the supply of p n yw-od from becoming, aa it might easily have 
become, a factor controlling airplane production. 

Further applications of strength data were found in the design of 
wing beams and wing ribs, laminated wing beams, for example , offer the 
opportunity to utilize a much larger per cent of the spruce cut, a per- 
centage far toe low at the best. Special supplemental tests developed 



-30- 
types of laminated and spliced wing bears rs strong as the solid wing beam 
of the first planes , and the types developed have been adopted by the Army 
and Navy. Aa an example of the special supplemental tests on v/ing ribs 
nay be cited those for an American combat plane produced in large numbers. 
The weight of the standard rib was: reduced by one-third and the strength 
per unit of weight was increased three times . The wing so developed was 
adopted and similar designs were developed for six other Army and Navy 
planes . 

Strength tests have a. further application in ship timber, and thia 
and other information served as a basis, fcr a comprehensive series of recom- 
mendations to the American Bureau of Shipping and the Fleet Corporation 
on the specifications to be followed in the selection of timber. Special 
tests of boxes were needed to supplement the strength test9 of wood as a 
material. Fortunately, methods and special testing equipment had been 
developed before the war. In some specifications which involved the con- 
struction of hundreds of thousands of boxes, the number of roods permitted 
was increased from 1 to 30. It became possible to use the woods at hand 
and to make full use of the facilities of box-making plants wherever they 
might be. In addition, nailing, strapping, and construction in goneral 
were standardized and adapted to the very severe war requirements in over- 
seas shipments. Redesigns saved enormous quantities of cargo space. 
Large sum3 were joved in initial coots, losses since July 1, 1918, at 
ports of arrival in France are reported officially to be only 15 per cent 
of those before July 1. 



-21- 
Timle r "y ^-ti y ;iv,l 'reduction. 
Another general class of problems of first importance dealt with 
timber supplies and production. A general survey tiras made of the timber 
resources of the United States in order to make sure that supplies of 
woods should not be dangerously reduced before provision could be mads 
for substitutes. The best data available were maintained on requirements 
as compared with current production, and similar data were secured con- 
cerning the forest resources of ether countries . For special woods and 
for special purposes, much more intensive studies were required. It was 
not sufficient to be able to furnish data on the properties, conditioning., 
and uses of wood in airplanes . If it became necessary to select substi- 
tutes for spruce, knowledge as to supplies, quality, current production, 
and the extent to which production could be increased was necessary on 
those woods which, from the standpoint of properties alone, seemed to 
meet requirements. The program on airplane woods included field studies 
of the eastern spruce, practically equivalent to the Sitka spruce of the 
Northwest, and such other possible substitutes a3 Fort Orford cedar, 
Douglas fir, eastern white pine, Norway pine, western white pine, yellow 
poplar, western hemlock, silver, nolle, white, and lowland fir, and even- 
sugar pine, cypress, redwood, and western yellow nine. The work on eastern 
spruce was being followed up intensively by the Navy, but work on many 
of the other species was far in advance of immediate requirements. 

Black walnut is the accepted gunstock wood. It had been cut heavily 
for years. Production was not meeting requirements. It became necessary, 
therefore, in cooperation with the States and other forestry agencies and 
the Bey Scouts, to make a field survey throughout practically the entire 



t-32- 

range of this tree. Hew sources of supply rere found, new producers were 
interested, and processes of manufacture inspected and supervised to in- 
sure the most efficient cutting of the material; for it mu9t be remembered 
that the black walnut was almost equally needed for airplane propellers. 
Fortunately, the requirements for these two purposes could be reconciled. 
Production was more than doubled. The supply of black walnut was no 
longer a critical problem when the armistice was signed. Two or three years 
more of war might, however, have required the use of substitutes. 

Demand for tonnage in the transportation of food, munitions and armies 
left none for the imports of tannin on which the United States had depended. 
It became necessary to increase domestic production, and, as a basis for 
this, a field survey made by the Forest Service indicated necessary lines 
of action for individual plants throughout practically the entire region 
of tannin production. 

Various economic questions relating to lumber, pulp, ana other im- 
portant forest and wood-using industries were studied in order to keep in 
touch with developments in the industries, to anticipate difficulties, and 
.to provide Government organizations with the information which they might 
need for administrative action. 'Badly needed materials, such as a satis- 
factory coating for airplane propellers and waterproof glues primarily for 
plywood, were developed, as were also methods of inspection and certifica- 
tion for glues in general. Material assistance was given in the technical 
training of men, for which always the demand far exceeded the supply. 

Protection of Tunnels and Bridges. 
Cne of the first steps on the part of the Forest Service field of- 
ficers en the entrance of the United States into the war was to assume, 



-33- 

in part, the protection of the mean? of communication useful for military 
purposes in the les3 accessible portions of the country. The forest 
rangers were well fitted f or this work. They added to their regular 
duties the protection of tunnels and bridges of the larger railroads. 
Particular attention was given also to the protection of the water sup- 
plies of the various municipalities that had the major portion of their 
water-supply system in the more remote parts of the mountains . 

The wide distribution of the field men through the smaller communi- 
ties made them peculiarly useful in assisting the various campaigns of 
patriotic but nonmilitary character, which played so important a part in 
the general scheme. 

The field men assisted in the extension of the food and fuel organiza- 
tions and, in many instances, served active3.y as members of the local, 
county and even State organizations . The close relations existing between 
the utilization of the agricultural, grazing, and timber resources and the 
interests of the communities made it desirable that the Forest officers 
be actively associated with these efforts. The results obtained in this 
respect came up fully to expectations and brought full compensation to 
the men in the satisfaction of knowing that their extra efforts were suc- 
cessful. 

Not the least important was the affiliation of many of the men with 
the Four Minute Men organization. The Forest officers thus affiliated were 
able, in connection with their regular field trips, to carry the messages 
of the Four Minute Men into isolated communities, which would not have been 
done otherwise . 



-34- 

In the early period of the war, when the War College had no appropria- 
tion for a corps, cf translators and the urgent need existed for informa- 
tion from foreign sources , several members of the Washington Office cf the 
Forest Service conversant with various languages organised a volunteer 
corps of translators. Within the range of this corps came Russian, French, 
German, Italian, Spanish, and Scandinavian lanruar.es. The papers trans- 
lated covered many subjects on which information gathered from actual war 
experience by other nations was urgently needed for the training and equip- 
ment of the Army. The subjects ranged all xhe way from artillery practice 
to the training of pki^misher3 and fror. aiming tombs from airplanes to the 
training of dogs for war purposes. In connection with the organization of 
the ICth Engineers (Forestry) a vocabulary of French and English forestry 
and lumber terms was compiled, mimeographed, and bound in handy form. 

Eecause of the particular fitness and previous training of some members 
of the Washington office in Prussian matters, much information wa3 given 
to the State Department, the Military Intelligence, and particularly to the 
inquiry on the Russian situation , especially during the early part of the 
war. 

Forest Specialists in Military Service. 

The varied character of the field work cf the Forest Service is such 
that a large number of the men are specialists in lines for which there 
was considerable need in the military service. It was with increased dif- 
ficulty, therefore, that men were held to their regular duties with the 
Forest Service when calls to active military service were made for men of 
such special qualifications. 



-35- 

Tc meat the situation thus created, every effort was made xo reduce 
the work of the Forest Service to the lowest possible ooint where there 
would he no interference with the maintenance of a skeleton organisation 
ablu tc carry on the essential work without danger to the National Forests. 
Ly such reduction it was possible to relieve for military duty a large number 
of specially qualified men. Host of the men released entered the engineer- 
ing branches and the largest number were assigned to the 10th and 20th En- 
gineers . 

Immediately after this country entered the war, a call was made on the 
Forest Service by the War Department for assistance in the organization of 
engineering trecps specially qualified for operations in the woods. The 
absolute necessity fcr this had 1 "eer. realized by the Allies and it was at 
their suggestion that such troops were recruited. 

The services of the Forester were tendered to the *.7ar Department and 
accepted. In order to get the intimate information absolutely necessary, 
he at once proceeded to France and made a study of conditions. As a result, 
a special staff organisation was perfected in France. It was drawn tc a 
considerable extent from the higher officers of the Forest Service and in- 
cluded an Assistant Forester and a District Forester. This staff formulated 
the plan of work in France and made the necessary preparations in advance 
of the arrival of the forestry troops from this country. 

The entire personnel of the Forest Service played a part in recruit- 
ing the forestry regiment which was designated the 10th Engineers (Forestry; . 
The splendid record of this body of men has been a great saoi.jiaox.ion and 
the success attained is without doubt due to the careful manner in which 
the personnel for the regiment was selected. 



-36- 

The officers and men were chosen after very careful consideration cf 
their qualifications for work in the woods. Particular attention was given 
to their character and standing. It was only after the closest scrutiny 
that the men were accepted for this specialized service. 

This regiment and the 20th Engineers, organized later, had assigned 
to then the task of furnishing the forces in France with the necessary 
-;iraber supplies from the French forests. They supplied "building material 
for the various docks , roads , and supply depots that were built to handle 
the men and supplies shipped into France, and furnished considerable ma- 
terial needed by trie combatant forces at the front. 

New Ranges Opened for Stock Grazing. 

The imperative need of the country for the greatest possible produc- 
tion of meats, hide3 , and wool was partially met by the Forest Service by 
making provision for carrying increased numbers of stock on the ranges. 
This was accomplished by opening new ranges hitherto not used for grazing 
purposes and by the placing of larger numbers of stock on ranges already 
under use. The latter placed a very heavy tax on the carrying capacity 
of the range and, without the most skillful handling of the situation by 
the Forest Service, it might have resulted in such severe damage to the 
ranges an to require a long period for recovery. The most careful con- 
sideration was given to this matter by the grazing experts and there is 
every feeling of confidence that no permanent damage resulted. These 
efforts permitted the increase in the number of animals allowed to graze 
on the National Forests by about 1,063,000 head. 

Considerable cooperation was given the War Department by field of- 
ficers . particularly in the Western States , in which the National Forests 



- 37 - 

are situated, in collecting and compiling all kinds of data needed for 
military maps. Special attention was given to information relating to 
the means of communication. Notation was made of available food sup- 
plies, water resources, areas adaptable for the growing of crops, and 
regions needing special protection. 

The facilities of the drafting room and photographic laboratory 
wers very heavily drawn on by many of the bureaus of t:.e War Department 
riot adequately equipped to make maps or reprodv.ee existing maps in quan- 
tities to meet the demands. 

Train Foresters i n Fran ce . 

Two representatives of the Forest Service were appointed by the 
President as members of the National Research Council. Advice has been 
given on a number cf forest problems and connections established between 
investigative work in forest, chemical, physical, and similar problems. 
Plans were prepared for reorganizing the training of forestry for war 
purposes, for the use of cut-over land, and for professional and voca- 
tional training of foresters in France. 

Every effort was made by the Forest Service to stimulate in the 
Northwest the production of lumber from Sitka spruce for the Bureau of 
Aircraft Production. The spruce occurs on but a few forests. It is 
found on the Olympic National Forest in Washington, the Suislaw Forest 
5n Oregon, and the Tcn~asa in Alaska, i'ales aggregating about 4-0,000,- 
000 board feet -vere made. 

T T.se of Wood for Fuel 

Soon after the entrance of the United States into the War it be- 
came apparent that there was to be a serious coal shortage, especially of 



-38- 
ac-"G3 J :ic coal. The Forest Service felt that a campaign to stimulate the 
production and use of wood for fuel would be a patriotic nova, and would 
at the same time fit into the regular forestry work since it rould give 
an opportunity to market a great deal of inferior wood. Circular 79, 
Office of the Secretary, "Emergency Fuel from the Farm Woodland , " was is- 
sued and was followed by other publications. A wood fuel program was 
presented to the Fuel Administration by the Forest Service, and wan par- 
tially adopted. Under this plan the Forest Service supplied the Fuel 
Administration with a number of foresters to organize xhe wood campaign 
in the various States . 

The plan followed was to get the Fuel Administrator for a State to 
appoint a State wood fuel committee. On this committee the State For- 
eoter, professor of forestry at the agricultural college, and the director 
of the extension service wore usually members. This committee, in 3oma 
cases, organized similar county committees in which the county agent or a 
representative of the farm bureau acted as chairman. By a campaign of 
publicity through posters, the press, and local meetings, much publicity 
was given to the need of wood. Wood-cutting bees and cut-a-cord clubs to 
popularize the cutting of wood among people with idle time, were organized 
in certain sections. In some regions municipal woodyards or war wood- 
fuel companies wers formed to guarantee a fair price for the producers 
and an adequate supply for consumers. 

It is estimated that as. a result c r this work, the consumption of 
wood was increased at least 10 per cent, which me?ns a saving of aDout 
7,500,000 tons of coal, or about 7 per cent of the coal used domestically. 



-39- 

In the latter part of the war a considerable body of statistic and 
other information on forest and water resources of the world was gathered 
by the Forest Service and codified for the use of peace delegates. 



-40- 



THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 

In two principal waya the Bureau of Animal Industry contributed to 
the power of the United States in its war with Germany. Trained and - 
qualified members of the bureau served directly with the various military 
branches of the Government. Moot of these men were veterinarians and 
skilled inspectors, or they had other technical knowledge which made their 
services especially valuable. 

A larger though less dramatic contribution was a readjustment of the 
bureau's organization and the introduction of "high gears" in activities 
where speedy results "/ere essential to proper support of the battle lines. 

Meat Inspection Division. 

One of the first branches of the bureau affected directly by the 
entry of the United States into the war was the Meat Inspection Division. 
Shortly after a state of war was declared , the War Department requested 
the Federal Meat Inspection Service to reinspect the meat and meat food 
products furnished the various cantonments, forts, camps and other places , 
to protect the health of the troops, by insuring that the meats originated 
at establishments operating under Federal meat inspection, that the supply 
accepted by the Army had not deteriorated after leaving the packing plants, 
and that it otherwise conformed to the Army specifications. 

At the time of actual issue to the troops another reinspection was 
made by bureau inspectors to insure that the meats had not deteriorated 
since they were received at the camp, fort, or similar place. Sixty-seven 
inspectors were assigned to the work. The quantity of meat and meat-food 



_/!"). 



products inspected waa 342,626,972 pounds, of which 4,335,035 pounds was 
rejected . 

Similar arrangements were made with the Navy Department and consisted 
in inspecting all meat and meat-food product? at the time of preparation 
in official establishments to see that they were prepared in accordance 
with Navy specific at ions . A re inspection to see that no moats which had 
deteriorated while in storage or transit were accepted was made at navy 
yards and other points where Navy vessels were supplied with food. Ad- 
ditional inspectors were detailed in the establishments operating under 
Federal meat inspection. This service inspected 194,453,654 pounds of 
meat and meat-food products for the Navy, of which 5,453,966 pounds was 
rejected. By special request of the Navy DopartmQnt , representatives of 
the I.'eat Inspection Division also inspected poultry, fish, oysters, clams, 
dairy products, and ether food commodities. 

Px"otectir.g Ileat SupiJ?;» fror - ! Z^wy. n .r. abion . 

To protect the military meat supply from possible contamination by 
unscrupulous persona, special and continuous supervision "was maintained 
and chemical analyses made of the finished. products before delivery. 

Shortly after x he declaration of war, the service inaugurated a food- 
conservation movement in raeat- packing establishments with the view of 
eliminating food wastes, avoiding the use of edible products for inedible 
purposes, and adopi^ng 3uch measures as would prevent spoilage of meat 
from avoidable causes by discovering the causes and bringing them to the 
attention of the proper officials of the establishment, which rjaulted in 
a very substantial saving of food. 



f 42 - 

The orders of the United States Food Administration, the rr ar 
Trade Boerd, and the War Industries Board applicable to the rrest 
industry were given special attention with a view of making them effec- 
tive. A great mass of statistics and other information requested by 
other Government organisations was furnished. 

For the first time in tho history of the bureau, women were appoint- 
ed to assist in meat-inspection work at the pecking houses because men 
were rot available. The plan prc\-sd so successful that a civil service 
register of women elipible for appointment in such positions has been 
established. 

Stim ulating Food Production. 

The Eureau of Animal Industry has always been largely a field organ- 
ization, with its personnel widely distributed in the producing areas or 
stationed at live-stock market certers. Such an organization naturally 
adapted itself quickly to the critical need for propaganda in food 
production. 

Active propaganda in xhe production of pork, poultry, beef, mutton 
and wool was carried on by the Animal Husbandry Division in cooperation 
with the States Relations Service and agricultural colleges. The 
Division cooperated also with the War Department in providing for the 
breeding of mares purchased in connection with war activities. 

The appropriation for the emergency 'vcrk became available so late 
that little time was left in which to organize the campaign to in- 
crease 1918 pork production, o f which IT per cent increase over 1917 
wgs needed. It was possible, however, to make a rapid survey in 
cooperation with the Bureau of Crcp Estimates to determine the probable 
surplus of corn from the 1917 crcp and to alio i- on r,hat basxs the 



- 43 - 

increase in pork production warranted by the increase in the 1917 
corn crop. The increase recommended varied from 5 per cent in States 
like Georgia and West Virginia to. 25 per cent in Iowa and Kansas, ana 
50 per cent in Missouri. An appeal was made direct to the agricultural 
colleges of the States in which increases were requested, especially 
in the Corn Pelt, for the loan of men to te used in the campaign. In 
addition, considerable numbers of men were added to the pig-club 
force and placed mainly in the Southern States, naturally the greetest 
increase was expected in the Corn Belt, and in that section the co- 
operating extension divisions used two systems: one wae to organize 
strong speaking campaigns, the speakers being practical pork pro- 
ducers and successful farmers. The campaign was put on intensively 
just before the fall breeding season began in 1 C T7. The other system 
was to conduct an extensive campaign through the medium of country 
bankers and the country press as well as countv agents. Frequent con- 
ferences and actual personal touch with farmers were important parts 
of this sytem. 

In the spring of 1216 the breeding propaganda was followed by. a 
campaign to save pigs at farrowing time. As a result of these efforts, 
the estimated total number of hogs on hand January 1, 1218, wae 
70,978,000 compared with 67,503,000 on January 1, 1917, an increase of 
5.1 per cent. The estimated number of hogs on hand January 1, 1915, 
was 75,587,000, an increase of C.5 per cent over January 1, 1218, and 
an increase of nearly 12 per cent over January 1, 1917. In addition 
to the actual numerical increase, farmers fed hogs for more weight in 
1913 and added materially to the pork output in this way. The 
average v/eight of hogs on the Chicago market in 1919 was 234 pounds 



- 44 - 
as again9t 212 pounds in 1917, an increase of practically 10 per cent. 

Pig-club enrollment increased greatly during 1218, approximately 
75,000 boys and girls participating in the work during the year. 

Emergency Poultry Campaign 

Since actual work to increase poultry production did not need 
to begin until the early spring of 1918, it was possible to organize 
this project more thoroughly than the emergency ioork-production project. 
In starting and conducting the emergency poultry campaign, the following 
facts were foremost in mind: 

1. That the primary purpose was to secure an increased 
production of both poultry and eggs largely for domestic 
consumption in order to release red meat for export. 

2. That this increased production was needed at the 
earliest possible time. 

3. That an increase could be best realized from the farm 
flocks and from that section of the country where poultry 
keeping is most extensively carried on. 

The country was divided into four districts and district agents 
stationed at Chicago, Kansas City, Oklahoma City and Los Angeles, to 
supervise the territory assigned. 

The poultry-production program had nine features as follows: 

1. Keep better poultry. 

2. Select vigorous breeders. 

3. Hatch the chicks early. 

4. Preserve egg3 for home use, 

5. Produce infertile egps.for market. 

6. Cull the flocks. 

7. Keep a back-yard flock. 

8. Grow your own poultry feed. 

9. Eat more poultry and eggs. 

The slogan of the campaign was "100 hens on every farm and 100 eggs from 
every hen." 

Supplementing the organization of paid employees, the division 



obtained a great deal of assistance from voluntary helpers, most of 
them members of the American Poultry Association. These local leaders 
were selected, to cooperate with the State poultry specialist and the 
county agent to relieve the latter officer of details of the poultry 
campaign. In a number of instances the same purpose war met by appoint- 
ing a poultry representative on the local farm-bureau committees. At 
present there are over 5,000 such local leaders. The service of these 
people has resulted in enormously multiplying the effectiveness of the 
poultry specialists in the extension organization. 

The campaign for preserving eggs for home use has been unusually 
successful. Fully twice re man;/ e<?gs were put down in waterglass for 
heme uso during 1913 as ever before. This work extendeC over all the 
country, both in cities and in the rurel districts. 

Pack -Yard Poultry Keeping 

Back-yard poultry keeping received a big impetus. In February 
1919, the "Hatch Early" c impaign which tob started in a small way two 
years before, was in full progress from one end of the country to the 
other. Poultry patiere emphasized in every issue the importance of 
hatching early in order to have fall-laying pullets. 

The most outstanding feature in the emergency work in beef pro- 
duction ha3 been tha movement o e cattle out of the drought-stricken 
regions of Texas ana other Southwestern States and the Con; Bolt. The 
continuation of the drought and the availability of funds nude possible 
a repetition in the summer o r 1918 of the work done in 1917. Altogether 
about 300,000 head of cattle were moved out of Texas as a result of 
this effort. 



r 46 - 

Emergency work in sheep and woo] production wae largely confi"*<~d 
to the addition of specialists to tne extension divisions of the agricul- 
tural colleges to give expert advice in farm-eheep raising. A cooperative 
survey with the Forest Service indicated the location, price and character 
of 300,000 ewes being offered for sale in Western States. This informa- 
tion was furnished to extension divisions in States where sheep were 
wanted and resulted in the conservation and use of a sufficient number 
of ewes to estatlish a large number of farm flocks. 

There has beer a material increase in the number of sheep in the 
country during each of the laet two years. Prior to that time, a steady 
decline had been recorded for many years. In addition, the number 
marketed in 1918 wes much larger than in 1917. The 1918 wool clip ex- 
ceeded that of 1917 by 12,000,000 pounds. A large number of new farm 
flocks has been established and the industry has extended* into some 
sections of the South which are naturally adapted to sheep raising. 

Work of Dairy Division 

In the field of dairying, the Bureau's war work nas been unusually 
extensive. The Dairy Division fortunately had a flexible organization 
which solved many technical problems while it was conducting inspections, 
stimulating dairy production ,and encouraging food substitution and con- 
servation. 

Through inspectors stationed at various creameries, the division 
supervised for the Navy Department the manufacture and packing of 
3,100,763 pounds of butter in the summer of 1917, and 9,326,204 pounds 
during 1918. All of this butter "'as made from unripened, pasteurized 
sweet cream which investigations of tne Dairy Division had shown keeps 
better than any other kind of butter. When storage butter was 



- 47 - 
commandeered for Government use in the fall of 1918, the divieion fur- 
nished t'~o men who, aa representatives of the Navy Department, spent two 
months inspecting and storing butter in cold storage warehouses at Boston 
and Chicago. 

Through efforts of the Dairy Division, large savings in creamery 
by-products have been brought about. Results in this field 'rere so strik- 
ing thst the force of ten field men employed in the summer of 1917 was 
doubled in 1919. Through efforts of these men, the operators of 124 
Creameries and milk plants, where skim milk or buttermilk was either wasted 
or not used to best advantage, were induced to convert them into human 
food. In that way 26 million pounds of skim milk and buttermilk has been 
utilized in making cottage cheese and condensed skim milk. In addition 
assistance was given in the quality cf cottage cheese at 154 plants 
already making that product. 

War activities in the market-milk work included cooperation with 
officials of the United States Public Heal+h Service. Representatives 
of the Dairy Division spent a great deal of time in the extra-cantonment 
zones to improve the sanitary condition of milk and dairy products and 
to make available a larger supply of these products for uee by the troops. 

Pasteurizing Facilities Enlarged 

Through Dairy Division efforts, pasteurizing facilities were en- 
larged, technique improved and, when occasion demanded, new pasteurizing 
plants were built. The bureau hae learned of no outbreaks of disease 
traceable to the milk supply of any of the camps. Frequent visits were 
made to the Naval Academy Dairy at Gambrilis, Maryland, to maintain the 
high quality of milk for the midshipmen. The market milk section of the 
Dairy Division carried on two special campaigns to prevent losses in the 
Nation's general supply of milk. The firsx showed the importance of 



- 48 - 

sterilizing milk utensils. This campaign was conducted through 180 
health officers in different parts of the country who demonstrated in 
their communities the sterilizing outfits sent them by the division. 

The second campaign was undertaken to prevent losses of milk 
through spoilage, by encouraging the storage of natural ice, and the 
use of ice in cooling milk. 

The research laboratories of the Dairy Division successfully attacked 
many interesting and important war problems. For instance, airplane con- 
struction called for a special waterproof glue made from milk casein, 
most of which had been imported. When the Shipping Board shut off the 
importation of casein, the Dairy Division was asked to supervise the 
nanufacture in this country of casein suitable for waterproof glue. A 
new procedure of manufacture suitable to American factory methods based 
on previous work in the laboratories was developed and put in operation 
on a large scale within two months. This casein proved to be of much 
higher grade than any previously manufactured on a large scale. There 
was no eeriou3 increase in cost. In cooperation with the Forest Pro- 
ducts Laboratory, which was studying the casein glue for the Bureau of 
Aircraft Production, the laboratories performed extensive work on the 
analysis of commercial casein and on methods of inspection. 

Fxperiments were conducted to determine whether cotton waste, known 
as mill sweepings, could be freed from mineral oil and other impurities 
by biological means so that the cotton could be made into gun cotton. 
A method for treatment by bacteria was worked out which results in a 
relatively pure cotton. The division cooperated in research investiga- 
tions of the Army Iv'edical School and the Sanitary and Medical Corps. 



_ 49 ~ 
Sugar Sub s titutes Found 

To aid in the conservation of sugar, Dairy Division experts studied 
possible substitutes for use in ice-cream making and found a number 
which could replace satisfactorily as much as 50 per cent of cane sugar. 

Preliminary study has been made of reconstructed milk in cooperation 
with the manufacturers of emuleers and milk powder, and the product dis- 
played to officers of the War Department. A considerable quantity of 
reconstructed milk and about 250 gallons of ice cream were supplied to the 
United States Public Health Influenza Hospital. 

An expected scarcity in concentrated feeds led the Dairy Division to 
inaugurate a campaign of information to stimulate production of home- 
grown feeds for dairy herds. It emphasized particularly the construction 
of silos and the growing of legumes. 

Anticipating also a curtailment in the number of dairy cattle in 
certain sections where feed prices tended to rise, the Dairy Division 
perfected a plan for the redistribution of all good cattle in such sec- 
tions to territories where dairy animals were in demand. Several thousand 
head of dairy cattle were distributed throughout the sections in the 
South and West, where dairying was new. 

The Dairy Division has given assistance and advice relative to dairy 
matters to the Food Administration, War Industries Poard, War Trade Board, 
Shipping Eoard, and Capitol Issues Committee. 

In addition to its efforts in stimulating production of animal pro- 
ducts, the bureau sought greatly to reduce losses from disease, parasites 
and similar causes. This field of service extended not only to food 
supplies but included Army horses and mules, the wool supply, and other 
factors bearing on the proper maintenance of the Nation's armed forces. 



- 50 - 

Forty-seven bureau employees in the Field Inspection Divisions were 
assigned to full time service with the War Department in connection with 
the prevention and control of contagious diseases of animals. In addition, 
employees at regular bureau stations were charged with conducting similar 
work in cooperation with the War Department. 

Campaign Against Animal Diabases 

An intensive campaign to improve the sanitary sondition of all 
premises where Army horses and mules were handled v.ae carried on. Dis- 
eases of horses and males, especially influenza, were reduced to a minimum. 
A very marked improvement in the sanitary condition of stables, pens, stock- 
yards and other premises throughout the country was effected. Special 
efforts were made to prevent and control contagious 1 diseases, particularly 
anthrax among meat-producing animals, and vigorous measures "'ere taken to 
arrest all local outbreaks. Excellent results were rchieved, especially 
in the western Gulf States, where heavy losses frcm anthrax occurred 
during 1917. During 1913 the losses from that cause *?re comparatively 
inconsiderable. 

Every measure consistent with safety was taken to encourage the 
traffic in stocker and feeder hogs, thus assisting very materially in 
stimulating pork production. That the trade increased tremendously 
during the period of the war, is shown by records of swine immunised under 
supervision. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1918, 254,731 swine 
were immunized under bureau supervision while during only the first half 
of the fiscal year 1S19 a total of 325,325 hogs were immunized. 

Additional efforts were made to prevent imd control the common dis- 
eases of sheep, especially scabies. During tht fiscal year 1918, 



- 51 - 
5,585,543 dippings of sheep in the field were supervised while in the 
first 6 months of the fiscal year 1919, 7,332,043 dippings were super- 
vised. This work is an important factor in the production of mutton and 
wool. 

An important direct war activity of the Bioohemic Division of the 
bureau has been the production of mailein for tht United States Army, to 
test horses for glanders. Practically the entire supply of mailein for 
the Army from the beginning of the war was furnished by that division. 

The bureau increased its efforts to eradicate the southern cattle 
tick. The regular tick-eradication fund was supplemented by the ex- 
penditure since April 6, 1917, of approximately J2C0,000 from the 
appropriation "Stimulating Agriculture and Facilita- ing Live Stock Pro- 
duction." The allotment from the stimulating fund made it poesitle to 
extend cooperation to State authorities in tick-erad: cation over a much 
larger area than otherwise could have been reached. On December 1,1918, 
there was released from Feceral quarantine 79,217 equa-e miles as com- 
pered with 65,520 square miles released on December 1, 1S17. This 
was accomplished in spite of tne fact that many of the \eterinary in- 
spectors of the bureau entered military service for duty in the veterinary 
reserve corps, and the States and counties also experienjsd difficulty 
in providing capable men for duty as local inspectors. 

C r.ttle T: r.Y. Eradication 

The eradication of the cattle tick results in stimulating the 
cattle industry and in general improvement of agricultural conditions 
over the area affected. Svch development of resources strengthened the 
food firing line during the war and better prepared this country for 



- 52 - 

meeting knotty economic problems of the future. 

Through its investigations of animal parasites, including the 
cattle tick, the Zoological Division of the bureau was an important 
source of information on matters relating to the removal of obstacles to 
economical live-stock production and the handling of foods. In response 
to requests from the War Department, the division supplied information 
concerning parasites, examined and determined specimens, and supplied 
material to be used for instruction in the Army Medical School, 

A series of investigations on trichinae has been completed. These 
are parasites of common occurrence among hogs and transmissible to human 
beings in improperly cooked pork, sometimes with fatal results. The work 
has shown that the vitality of the parasites can be destroyed by certain 
refrigeration processes. The degree of heat necessary to destroy them in 
the cooking of pork also has been determined, and curing rrethods have 
been devised that insure the destruction of the parasites in products 
prepared customarily to be eaten without cooking. Through the control 
of meat-packing processes, rendered possible by results of these in- 
vestigations, consumers of certain pork products prepared in establish- 
ments operating under Federal inspection have been safeguarded from the 
danger of trichinosis. No cases have been reported in the Army, traceable 
to such products prepared in inspected establishments. 

Hog-Cho lera Control 

A bureau activity, noteworthy because of increased hog production 
during the war, is the work in controlling hog cholera. Hogs not only 
increased in numbers but higher prices and the tendency toward greater 
weight made important the suppression of serious ewine diseases, of 



— DO «= 



which cholera ie the foremost. 

The bureau expanded its activities in hog-cholera control and in- 
creased its force of veterinarians for that work from 85, the normal 
number, to about 160. With the aid of emergency funds, the work has 
been extended, since April 6, 1917, to 14 States which prior to that 
ds'&.ehad not received the benefit of this class of assistance. In a 
number of other States, where projects of this character were already 
effective, activities were increased to cover the entire area of the 
States instead of being confined to certain parts of them. The rate of 
swine mortality from cholera for the last fiscal year — 42 per 1,000 -- 
ie the lowest on record. 

An important result of war activites in the control of hog cholera 
has been a realization that previous efforts were not sufficient to cope 
properly with conditions as they existed. 

The effectiveness of hog cholera control has depended in a major 
degree on the adequate production of serum and virus used in immunizing 
swine. Even in the face of war conditions, production of veterinary 
biological products, especially antihog-cholera serum, increased de- 
cidedly in volume. The quality, also, was improved. Firms licensed by 
the department will prepare, during the current year, larger volumes 
of biologies than ever before. Notwithstanding great difficulty in 
maintaining an adequate force of inspectors, the office of Virus-Serum 
Control has given special attention to supervision of biological pro- 
ducts from abroad. One of the most important lines of work was to see- 
that the virus of infectious diseases, such as foot-and-mouth disease, 
was not introduced into this country either intentionally or by accident 



- 54 - 

through contamination of biological products. 

Controlling Tuberculosis in Live Stock 

Another important field of disease eradication contributing to 
the I&tion's food resources has been the work of controlling tuberculo- 
sis in live stock. The Tuberculosis Eradication Division was estab- 
lished in May, 1917, and since that time has been ready to cooperate igi 
war activities. At the request of the Surgeon General, the division ' 
aided the War Department in testing approximately 10,000 cows supplying 
milk to camps or cities near them. 

Reinforcing other branches of the bureau in charge of controlling 
work, the Pathological Division dove-tailed its normal activities into 
the war-time food conservation program. The work of that division is 
war on disease and on its causes, whether germs or poisonous plants. 
Thus, all the work of the Pathological Division had an important bearing 
through conservation caramels on the war program. 

Since April 6, 1917, the division has distributed 7,743,030 doses 
of vaccine for immunizing young cattle from its relentless enemy, the 
blackleg disease. Special efforts were made in the various States to 
induce a more general use of the vaccine and one State actually com- 
pelled by law the vaccination of all susceptible cattle. The patholog- 
ical Division met every legitimate demand and request for the immuniz- 
ing vaccine. In addition, it gave help and advice to stockmen regarding 
the newer immunizing agencies. These agencies, placed on the market by 
various commercial firms, were tested for potency and for purity in 
order that nothing detrimental to the stock should be marketed. Many 
studies were made to improve the quality of vaccines, A special 



- 55 - 

laboratory building in which thi3 work will be continued is nearing 
completion. 

Testing of commercial biological products, such as serums, vaccines 
and bacterins used in the control of animal diseases, was a constant and 
important line of work during the war, when such products were likely to 
be manufactured by inexperienced help, due to lack of efficient laboratory 
technicians who were drawn into the fighting branch of the Army and Navy., 
Many of these products were found to be lacking in potency, contaminated 
and distinctly harmful. The office of Virus-Serum Control was furnished 
this information and such products were withdrawn from sale or were pre- 
vented from being placed on sale. 

Bacterial Cultures Furnished 

Bacterial cultures of various diseases for which the products are 
used were maintained in the laboratory and, in specific and proper cases, 
were furnished to manufacturers of biological products for comparative 
purposes and other legitimate uses. Veterinary laboratories in the Army 
also were supplied with cultures of certain organisms used in diagnostic 
work on diseases of horses and mules. 

Two thousand two hundred and ninety-five samples of serum from 
horses and mules were tested to detect latent and obscure cases of glanders, 
the disease most dreaded in Army animals. Cultures of the glanders 
organism and other material used in diagnostic work on this disease were 
supplied direct to Army laboratories to enable the veterinary service to 
keep glanders out of the Army remounts. 

During the last four or five years many thousands of samples of 
equine blood serum have been examined by complement-fixation to pick out 



- 56 - 

occult cases o*" dourine of horses. This disease was a rrenrce to the 
horse-breeding industry of the West, from which region thousands of Army 
hortes both for this country and the Allies were drawn. There is no 
doubt that the curbing of this disease at the proper tire made it possible 
to obtain so many valuable horses when the great and urgent demand came. 
To obviate the possibility of diseased animals getting into Army service, 
this work was continued throughout the war period, 97,194 samples having 
been tested after April 6, 1917. Breeding stock obtained for Army pur- 
poses was also submitted for the test and in this manner healthy mares 
and stallions have been secured for such service. Ey no other means could 
such assurance be given. In no other laboratory in this country was such 
diagnostic precision feasible. 

Aside from the testing of samples from animals for the United States 
Army, many hundred of tests were conducted for the Allies, Great Britain 
in particular. 

Due to the movement of horses and mules interstate to the sales 
stables in the large markets, a number of tests for glanders were made for 
State officials. The bureau endeavors at all times to lend its full cooper- 
ating force in the suppression of animal diseases, and durinr the war such 
work was imperative. 

Contagious abortion of cattle, a disease which looms great as a deterring 
factor in both milk and meat production, has been under careful investigation. 
Some important facts have been uncovered and o] d knowledge of the disease 
has been verified through rediscovery. Information on the disease has 
been widely distributed. 



- 57 - 

Hemorrhagic septicemia, a contagious disease of cattle, has teen 
widely prevalent. The Pathological Division recently made available a 
bulletin which give3 the salient facts regarding that disease. It was 
found also to be widely disseminated in the Rocky Mountain region among 
sheep, and vaccine methods for controlling it were put ir. operation with 
apparent success. 

Anthrax of animals put in its unwelcome appearance ir. various parts 
of the country. / correct diagnosis is an irportart factor in its eradica- 
tion. The division has been on the alert to "nip it in the bud." This 
accomplishment is an oftrepeated one. Such outbreaks of anthrax are 
usually controlled by the use of commercial biological oroducts which are 
indirectly supervised by the laboratory tests to which they are repeatedly 
submitted. 

Anthrax Serum S upplied 

The pathological Division has produced a small quantity of a highly 
potent anthrax serum which has been supplied on various occasions for 
anthrax in man. Several of these cases occurred in the Army, due to in- 
fected bristles ir. shaving brushes. 

The branch pathological laboratories at Denver, South Omaha, and 
Chicago, have all done excellent work in routine examination of diseased 
animal tissues. As meat-inspection questions are frequently involved in 
such determinations, it has a direct bearing on the question o: meat con- 
servation. Where performed for veterinarians or stockmen, the question 
of animal conservation enters. 

In the poultry industry, disease is an enemy which has to be warred 
on constantly. This effort was aided by the Pathological Division through 



- 58 - 
the dissemination of knowledge contained in Farmers' Bulletin 530, 
entitled "Important Poultry Diseases," which was revised and enlarged. 

Through letter correspondence, poultry raiBers were given a mass 
of information on the treatment of poultry diseases. 

Investigation of the plants poisonous to animals was continued. 
During 1918, an unusual effort was made to bring the results of experi- 
mental work before stockmen and to urge upon them every possible means 
of reducing the losses, which under ordinary circumstances are very heavy. 
This was done partly through the press and partly by addresses before 
various organizations. In these addresses, special stress was laid or. 
the importance of conservation. Ordinarily, when the results of investi- 
gations are presented to the stockmen, the initiative of acting on the 
suggestion is left to them. During the war, however, action was urged 
upon them, not as a matter of choice but as the duty of loyal citizens 
to save the animals even at extra cost. Beporta of losses from poison- 
ous plants indicate that the death9 were much fewer than in preceding 
years. 

A brief bulletin on the stock-poisoning plants of western Europe 
was prepared for the use of the American Expeditionary Forces and accepted 
by the War Department. 

Exclusion of Contagion from Abroad 

With the complex international developments brought about by the 
war, the bureau's Quarantine Division played an important role in con- 
tinuing its work of excluding contagion from abroad. It also performed 
war work of specific character under the Act of Congress approved 
August 10, 1917. Gection 9 of that act provided for the importation of 



~ 59 - 
tick-infested cattle from Lexico, South America, Central America, and the 
islands of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, Such animals were 
to be permitted importation subject to immediate slaughter at portL' of 
entry. 

The Quarantine Division supervised the administration of the regula- 
tions up to the point cf delivery of the cattle to the official abattoir 
at the port of entry, where they were slaughtered under the direction of 
the bureau's T ..eat Inspection Division 

The Bureau of Animal Industry ^imed during the war toward a high 
standard of teamwork within its organization, ard toward obtaining the 
desired results at the time needed, thus substantially strengthening the 
Nation's war position. 



60 - 



[TIE BUREAU 0? PLANT INDUSTRY 



From the beginning of American participation in the war until the 
signing of the armistice, the Eur?au of Plant Industry gave assistance 
along scores of lines, both directly and indirectly, toward winning the 
final victory. 

War needs emphasized the lack of direct connection between research 
and extension workers of the States. In response to a call from the 
States Relation Service, the Bureau of Plant Industry placed extension 
pathologists in 20 States to work in cooperation with the extension di- 
visions of the agricultural colleges. Some of the definite things they 
have undertaken are the development of wilt-resistant varieties of cotton, 
the control of patato late-blight by spraying, and the control of sweet- 
potato diseases, of tomato wilt, and of other vegetable diseases. 

The laboratory of Planx Pathology, ?s a war activity, made a study 
of the black-chaff of wheat, a disease that first appeared seriously in 
Kansas in 1915. It was most serious in 1918 in Iowa and is still con- 
fined almost entirely to that region vest of the Mississippi River. The 
study has progressed far enough to make certain the cause of the disease 
and its identification outside of the wheat plant. The disease is 
carried on the seed, and control now appears certain by s combination of 
field hygiene and germicidal treatment. 



- 61 - 
Plant-Disease Control, 

Until last year no extensive or reliable data wsre available on 
the yearly losses caused by the diseases of imj ortan+. food crops. The 
Plant-Diaease Survey secured estimates of these losses from pathologists 
throughout the country, the averages of all reports constituting the 
most authoritative data ever brought together on the losses by disease 
of wheat, barley, rye, oats, corn, potato, bean, sweet potato, cotton, 
sugar beet, and peach. The facts have served as a basis for the initia- 
tion of disease-control work. 

Special surveys were made covering the root and stalk rots of corn, 
the sheath-blight (physoderrr.a) of corn, the late-blight of the potato, 
potato wart, leaf rusts of cereals, and the nematode disease of wheat. 

To meet the requirements of the war emergency, the office of 
Fruit-Disease Investigations found it necessary to modify its usual 
methods very little in order to make the results available to fruit grow- 
ers and fruit handlers. 

The investigations on fruit rote and decays, especially apple scald, 
a disease cf apples in cold storage which often results in a decrease 
in the value of the fruit of 30 to 50 per cent, have ma.de striking pro- 
gress during the last two years. 

A great deal of decay and spoilage occurs in small fruits, especially 
berries, after they leave the producer and before they reach the con- 
sumer, the loss often reaching 50 per cent. Investigation showed that 
most of these losses could be prevented by picking the fruit early in 
the day, cooling it quickly and keeping it cool, handling it carefully, 
Shipping it promptly and distributing it without delay. A group of 



- 62 - 
pathologistp was organized to study fruits as they arrive at terminals 
and to advise the inspectors of the Bureau of Markets and others in- 
terested as to the nature and causes of decay and spoilage. 

Early in 191B, Army officials requested the Bureau of Plant Industry 
to undertake investigations of pathological defects in airplane timber. 
But all the assistants trained in this type of work had been taken by 
the Army. In August, an urgent request that these investigations be taken 
up came from the Bureau of Aircraft Production. The request was acceded 
to, and men were taken from other lines of work and trained for the spe- 
cific task. No quantitative work on pathological factors had ever been 
attempted before. Hundreds of specimens of tidewater spruce and Douglas 
fir were rived out in the coastal forests in northern California and 
shipped to Berkeley, where the tests were made. At the time of the sign- 
ing of the armistice, arrangements had been completed to extend the work 
to eastern ash and other hardwoods. The results, it is believed, will 
be of permanent value for the airplane industry. 

U ndertakes Sap-St ain Prevention 

Sap stains had seriously handicapped gun-carriage manufacture. It 
was impossible to distinguish between harmless molds and sap stains and 
serious rots and defects of the wood, kiln drying, a partial remedy, wa.v 
not practicable, because it caused the loss of too much time. At the 
request of the War Department, the office of Forest Pathology undertook 
the development of modifications of the methods of preventing sap stains. 
These were based on the use of antiseptic dips and changes in storage 
methods. 

With the outbreak of the war, further attention was given to control 



- 63 - 
measures ae a. means of increasing sugar production. Special attention 
was directed against the two irost destructive diseases of the sugar beet, 
the sugar beet curly-top and the sugar beet nematode- These diseases are 
more destructive than the others simply because effective control measures 
have not yet been thoroughly worked out. Considerable progress has been 
made in determining important factors which have a direct bearing upon the 
control of the curly-top disease. Important among these are certain life- 
history facts of the disease carrier and the host plants and habitats of 
the carrier. The importance of early planting rs a control measure has 
been fully established. 

The work looking toward the control of the sugar beet nematode was 
taken up as an emergency war measure in 1917. This nematode is not a 
native of this country Find undoubtedly was imported from Germany. A large 
part of the area known to be infested with the nematode has been surveyed 
and mapped, and the rest crop rotations for the control of this pest are 
being used. The nematode is destroying annually thousands of tons of beets 
and is rendering thousands of acres of land temporarily unfit for sugar- 
beet production. Through the emergency work in this connection, sugar- 
beet culture on. many fields has been and is being restored. 

When the Food-Products Inspection Act was passed and its enforce- 
ment assigned to the Bureau of Markets, the inspectors stationed by that 
bureau in the various cities were instructed by the pathologists of the 
office of Cotton, Truck and Forage Crop Disease Investigations in the 
identification of plant diseases and their relation to the unsoundness 
or spoilage of the vegetables inspected. 



- 64 - 

Handbook of Plant Difeag.es Prepared 

A handbook of plant diseases for these inspectors wan prepared. The 
finest series of colored illustrations ever made for such a purpose has 
been brought together. The publication of these will be of inestimable 
benefit to plant pathologists everywhere. 

Prompt action was taken in cases of outbreaks of plant diseases. 
Reports of serious injury noted in shipments arriving in the markets are 
transmitted promptly to the field pathologists, and the necessary action 
is taken to instruct shippers and growers in methods of preventing future 
losses. 

The office of Soil-Fertility Investigations did a great deal of re- 
search work in the preparation of complex and difficult organic compounds, 
such as those used by the Germans in gas warfare. The men who gc ve 
their time to the work risked their health and frequently their lives in 
carrying it forward. Peccuse of the trained staff of chemists and the 
unusual laboratory equipment of this bureau, its cooperation was re- 
quested at the time of the organization of the American University Ex- 
periment Station for gas warfare investigations by the Bureau of Mines. 
Twenty-one different organic chemicals or "gases" were prepared in the 
Soil-Fertility Investigations Laboratory, some of which were particularly 
timely. Shortly after the American Expeditionary Force reached France, 
a cable message came urging immediate study, for defensive purposes, of 
the gas diphenylchloroarsine, a rare substance which the Germans had 
succeeded in making in rather large quanxities by a method which pro- 
duced the compound as a crystaline substance instead of in the liquid 
form in which it was known to scientists. But 48 hours before the cable 



was received from the \rmj officer ir. Frcmco , the Soil-Fertility In- 
vestigations Laboratory had worked out a new synthesis for this gas, and 
the newly devised method was turned over immediately to chemists at the 
American University for production and study of the gas. 

Fquipment Le nt to War-Besearch Organizations 

The laboratory of Soil-Fertility Investigations, also was used by 
the American University Experiment Station in the early days of the war, 
and some of its equipment, especially the large-scale apparatus, was later 
lent to the station and to other war-research organizations. 

Laboratory facilities, scientific assistance, and advice were given 
by the Bureau of Plant Industry to the Jfetional Council of Research in 
work for the Ordnance and other divisions in the production of an acetone 
substance for butyl alcohol, the use of benzolated alcohol in picric-acid 
manufacture, the use of trinitro-benzine as a substitute for picric acid, 
and on the purity of acetone and its suitability for certain purposes. 

The chemical known as mannite was found to be highly necessary in 
the medical work of the Army. Before the war, it had been prepared almost 
exclusively in Germany and had practically disappeared from the American 
market prior to April, 1917. The Soil-Fertility Laboratory undertook a 
series of investigations and succeeded in preparing several hundred pounds 
of this highly eesential organic chemical. 

Metol is another organic chemical compound which had formerly been 
prepared only in Germany, It was very urgently needed in th" photographic 
work of the war. The study of its manufacture was undertaken by the Bureau 
of Plant Industry. A satisfactory method was devised and made available 
for public use through the issue of a public-service patent. 



- 66 - 
The force at the- Arlington Farm rendered .: .. ii£ 'y i.ce in the operation 

of a nit rate -fixation plant operated by the War Depart irent , Other im- 
portant work relating to nitrogen vas done by the Scij -Fertility Laboratory 
at the United States Ammonium Nitrate plant at Perryville, Ld. Thin con- 
sisted of chemical greenhouse work on nitrogen-containing by-products of 
the plant. Advice was given, also, regarding the disposition of a large 
supply of ammonium nitrate in the possession of the War Department when the 
armistice was signed. 

Another service in connection with nitrates consisted in recommenda- 
tions made by the Soil -Fertility Laboratory for the partial replacement of 
ammonium sulphate by sodium ritrate in sugar-sane culture in Martinique 
and other French possessions. These recommendations were made in connection 
with the ammonia conservation campaign of the Food Administration; were 
agreed to by the French High Commission, and approved by the War Trade 
Board. 

Increase F -rocuction of L o ng- S taple Cotton 

One of the very acute, war needs wae for a larger production of extra- 
staple cotton in Arizona and California. Theft cottons were necessary for 
the manufacture of automnbile tires, aeroplane wings, balloon fabrics, and 
other fabrics requiring the greatest possible strength and durability of 
fibo:. The supply, was not only short, but its continuance in any quantity 
appeared doubtful. The; production in Egypt had been short for several years 
before the war, and th 3 importations from that ccuntry appeared likely to 
be shut off at any tinio by the German submarines. The American Sea Island 
cotton war: in danger (if being almost entirely destroyed by the boll weevil. 
This would have left the new Egyptian cotton industry of the Southwestern 



-• 67 - 
States as the only source of fiber of the required type. In order to avert 
this danger a? far as possible, the office of Crop Acclimatization made in- 
vestigations and began an active effort to apply in that region the results 
of the department's previous investigations in the growing of long-staplo 
cotton. The production in the Salt Kiver Valley, Ariz., was doubled in 1913, 
and considerable plantings "-ere made in other irrigated sections in Arizona 
and California. N'ost of the planters did not know either the general cul- 
tural requirements for cotton or xhe special requirements under these new 
conditions. Except for this supervision, generally unsatisfactory results 
undoubtedly would have occurred, ■ . •■-••• 

'■•■ ■-■ ■■— , and the development of tne new industry would have been 
checked, with resultant danger to the military and industrial programs. 

Labor shortage gave rise to a series of experiments which have shown 
that present practices in cotton culture can be modified to savu labor. Pre- 
vious experiments had shown that the branching habit of the plants can be 
controlled in such a way as to secure earlier and larger crops and to make 
picking easier. New experiments were made in cultural methods requiring 
less labor for thinning. Methods were devised for treating the seed to 
secure regular germination, so that seed could be planted in hills or in 
check rows with a modified corn planter. Important tests were made, also, 
in planting cotton with a nurse crop. 

Very effective cooperation was given the Gas Defense Service in the 
develop irent of gas masks. Incidentally, the expeditions that the bureau had 
previously sent to tropical America to study cotton and corn for acclima- 
tization had gathered nuch information regarding economic palms. The 
coconut palm was regarded as the most effective gas mask. Fut the need 



- 68 - 

was very pressing, and the scarcity cf shipping made it imponpiMe to get 

the necessary supplies from remote parts of the world. The first-hand 

knowledge possessed ty the Bureau of Plant Industry as to the natural die- 
's 
tribution and abundance of wild rela-tivea of the coconut pain in Central 

America made it possible to open up new sources of suppl*'. 

Substitute for Raffia in "aking Camouflage 

Soon after the American Expeditionary Force reached France, the Bureau 
of Plant Industry received an urgent request for material to be used as a 
substitute for raffia in making camouflage. The requirements were met with 
saw-palmetto leaves and Florida mess, turned over to the Camouflage Corps. 

The bureau of Plant Industry was constantly engaged in the solution of 
problems looking to the increase of the production of vegetable oils and 
fats and the better utilization of t^em. These measures were necessary to 
meet the constantly increasing demands for materials of this kind for war 
purposes. The data gathered concerning the sources, uses, and technical 
processes in the manufacture of these products were made available to the 
various war agencies of the Government. 

As the American aircraft problem developed, it became apparent that 
caetor oil was the only suitable lubricant and that the supply was wholly 
insufficient to meet the de^nand. Several million gallons of oil were re- 
quired, and the available supply in the United States was only about 
700,000 gallons. 

C a3tor-Eean Production Increased 

In an effort to meet the situation the Bureau of Aircraft Production 
contracted for the planting of 100,000 acres of cr.stor beans in the southern 
part of the United States. The castor-bean production had been practically 



- 69 - 
abandoned many years before, and American farmers of this generation had 
h?d practically r.o experience with the crop. In order to overcome that 
difficulty as far as possible, the Secretary of Tar a?ked the Department 
of Agriculture to collaborate. 

During the crop season of 1913, therefore, the office of Drug, 
Poisonous, and Oil Flant Investigations of the Eureau of Plant Industry 
worked with the Army officers detailed to supervise the production of the 
ce.3tor-bean crop. A number of employees were constantly in the field super- 
vising the planting, cultivation, raid harvesting the crop and in securing 
and operating machinery necessary to thresh it. The technology of manu- 
facturing castor oil was worked out for the Eureau of Aircraft production, 
leading to the adoption of a process which the trade had ccns.Ldered im- 
possible but which resulted in a pronounced success. A plant designed to 
utilize this method is now in successful operation. 

At one time during the war a scarcity of important drugs was threaten- 
ed, particularly of belladonna and digitalis, which had been obtained 
chiefly from Austria and Germany. The Bureau of Plant Industry rendered 
assistance in developing American sources of supply sufficient to clear up 
a situation of considerable gravity. At the same time, many persona who 
had exaggerated ideas concerning opportunities for large profits and were 
undertaking the culture of drug crops along impracticable lines, were 
given information by the department which saved them considerable money 
and effort. 

The office of Biophysical Investigations was of service to the 
National Research Council of the Signal Corps and other branches of the 
Government engaged in military wort. One of the important itema was the 



- 70 - 
construction, at tho Bureau of Standards, of a wind tunnel in which any 
desired wind velocity up to 100 miles an hour could ho obtained. It was 
extensively used in aerodynamical investigations for the Signal Corps and 
later for the Bureau of Aircraft Production and the Bureau of Military 
Aeronautics. 

Eradication of Common Barberry 

One of the most important food-crop conservation measures of the war 
period was the campaign for the eradicatxon of the common barberry, an 
ornamental shrub that has been very popular throughout the greater part 
of the country for many years. Investigations of the Department of Agri- 
culture proved conclusively that the common barberry is the "safe harbor" 
of black stem rust, a disease that attacks wheat, oats, rye, barley, and 
many grasses, frequently doinp stupendous damage, particularly to wheat. 
In the great wheat-growing regions of the country black stem rust can not 
perpetuate itself without the aid of the common barberry or related plants. 
The spores pass from the barberry to the wheat in spring. If there are 
no barberry bushes, the rust spores die out. But investigations proved 
that wheat fields may be infected from barberry at a considerable distance 
and that the city barberry is just as much a source of danger as the one 
in close proximity to wheat lands. 

In the spring of 1913, the Bureau of Plant Industry began a campaign 
for the eradication of the common barberry and other rust-suoceptible 
species. The first essential was to tell the truth about the matter in 
such a way that everybody concerned would realize the necessity for 
eradication, A widespread and thorough publicity campaign was carried 
out. Then a State leader and an assistant State leader were placed in 



- 71 - 
each of the States where rust is perpetuated by tljre barberry. Usually, 
they were trained plant pathologists with knowledge of log«l conditions. 

The educational campaign was effective. Not only did grain growers 
become active in the eradication, but nurserymen, who had rather a large 
monetary interest in the propagation and sale of common barberry and 
mahonia plants, cooperated as heartily as the farmers themselves. Thou- 
sands of nurserymen have signed pledges not to sell or grow the rust- 
susceptible species of barberry and mahonia. 

In connection with the systematic campaign for the eradication of 
barberry bushes, either by the owners themselves or by the State police 
officers, a survey was conducted during the summer and fall of 1918 as 
rapidly as the diminished number of qualified men would permit. The 
larger cities were first surveyed and the bushes located in parks and 
cemeteries and on private and institutional grounds. The campaign then 
progressed to the smaller cities and towns. The extent of this survey 
can be appreciated when one considers the miles of shrubbery in parks, 
cemeteries, and institutional grounds and the hundreds of miles of streets 
in the larger cities. The clean-up campaign has since been extended to 
villages, farmsteads, country lanes, and woodlands in which seedlings 
sown by birds are running wild. 

Results Accomplished 

The eradication campaign covers the States of Illinois, Iowa, Indiatta, 
Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin;-; Linnesota, Jbrth Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, 
Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. The follo?/ing figures show something of 
the results accomplished: 



- 72 - 

About 35,000 bushes were located during a partial survey 
in northern Illinois, /ibout 85 per cent of these have been 
eradicated. 

About 95,000 bushes were located in Wisconsin outside of 
nurseries and exclusive of those growing wild. It i3 es- 
timated that 9C per cent have been dug. 

In Iowa the number of bushes located was approximately the 
same as in Wisconsin, and about 80 per cent have been eradi- 
cated. 

In Minnesota about 50,000 tushes were located outside of 
nurseries, and approximately 80 per cent have been removed. 

In South Dakota 25,000 bushes were located east of the 
Missouri Piver. and nearly all have been removed. 

Accurate figures as to the number of barberry bushes located and 
removed are not available for the other States. 

Aside from the results actually accomplished in eradicating the 
bushes, the principal effect of the campaign has been the stirring up of 
public opinion against the common barberry. The effectiveness of the 
educational campaign is shown by the fact that barberry-eradication bills 
were introduced in the legislatures of all the States in the eradication 
area except Ohio and Wyoming. Thene bills have passed in Iowa, South 
Dakota, and Montana. North Dakota already had a barberry-eradication 
law. In Colorado, the crop-pest law gave sufficient legal authority to 
require the eradication of the bushes, and the Commission of Public 
Safety in Minnesota issued an order with the force of law requiring the 
destruction of the bushes. 

The Federal Horticultural Board of the Department of Agriculture 
held a barberry quarantine hearing early in 1919, and the Secretary of 
Agriculture has since proclaimed a quarantine prohibiting the shipping 
of rust-susceptible species of barberry and mahonia into the States 



- 73 - 

named from the other States of the Union and from foroign countries. In 
the States other than the 13 mentioned, tunc* stem rust is a less serious 
disease, and the eradication of the common barberry in not regarded as 
necessary. S 

Smut Prevention Through Seed Treatment 

Another cereal disease that was helping the Huns very materially is 
smut. The losses duo to smuts in the 1918 grain crop3 in the United States 
are estimated at 25,500,000 bushels of wheet, 11C, 000,000 bushels of oats, 
and 5,000,000 bushels of barley. 

In September, 1917, the office of Cereal Investigations of the Bureau 
of Plant Industry began a campaign to prevent, destructive cereal smuts 
through seed treatment. The country was divided into 8 districts, and i~ 
cooperation with the State extension agencies a leader and a staff of 
pathologists were assigned to each district. These men began their work 
durinp the fall and spring planting seasons in the portion of their 
districts where- seeding i3 done earliest and continued until seeding was 
completed in the districts sowing latest. The work was conducted in ^3 of 
the 48 States and has now covered four sowing seasons, the frll of 1917, 
spring and fall of 1018, and the spring of 1919. 

The following table shows sore of the results: 



- 7£ 



Comparative Value of the Smut-Control Campaign frcra October 1, 
1517, to September 30, 1918, Showing Bushels of Train 
Saved and the Increased Profit tc Farmers. 





Ae a result oi 


? the campaign. 


Cost tc 
farmers of 
t r s at ing 
grain. 


Increased 
profit to 


Crop 


Increase in 
treated 
acreage . 


Jrain saved. 


farmers . 




Quantity 


Value 




Wheat 

Oats 
Barley 


Per cent 
25 
25 
25 


Bushels 
5,000,000 
27,000,000 
1,000.000 


$10,000,000 

20,250,000 
1,250, 000 


f 75P,000 
555,000 
121.000 


•*. 9 . 250, 000 

19 j 695, 000 

1,129,000 


TOTAL 


33,000,000 


f 31, 500, 000 


|1,426,000 


530,074,000 



The office of Corn Invest igstiona was instrumental in increasing the 
world's supply for winning the war by presenting proper seed-corn methods. 
These facts were effectively presented through personal interviews, correr 
spondence, bulletins, leaflets, and posters. Cooperative work with the ex- 
tension forces made rt> possible to brine this information speedily to the 
attention of farmers throughout the United States. 

At the outbreak of the war, the importance of maintaining as nearly as 
possible a normal production cf sugar was recognized. The world's production 
and consumption of sugar were nearly balanced. As the war was being waged in 
the sugar-beet areas in Belgium, France, Russia, and Italy, where large 
numbers of mills were destroyed end the fields were rendered unfit for beet 
culture, it was apparent that there would be p world shortage. The mainte- 
nance of sugar production became at once b serious war problem. 



- 75 - 

Beet-Supar Production 

VJhile considerable progress was ntnH^ ir» incrpasinp; the cane-sugar 
production in the Southern States, the most premising field for the 
solution of the sugar-production problem seemed to lie in the beet-sugar 
areas. This was due, in part, to the larger extent of the sugar-beet area 
as compared with the cane area and the consequent possible, increased acre- 
age of beets and, in part, to the possibility of increasing the sugar 
production per acre. The problem was attacked frcm the standpoint of a 
larger acreage, better cultural methods, control of pests, and an adequate 
supply of high-grade sugar-beet seed. 

The office of Sugar-Plant Investigations cooperated with the farmers 
in the sugar-beet areas, with the beet-sugar companies, and with all 
State and national agencies interested in food production. As a result of 
those combined efforts, the largest acreage of beets ever planted in the 
United States was seeded in 1917. Unfortunately, unfavorable weather and 
labor conditions prevailed in certain localities, and an abnormally high 
percentage of the fields were abandoned, however, the crop yielded 
approximately 750,000 tons of sugar, which tided over a period that other- 
wise would have bordered upon a sugar famine. The 1918 acreage devoted to 
beets was somewhat reduced, owing to the demands upon the farmers for 
such crops as wheat, potatoes, and beans, and the high prices of these 
commodities. On the whole, the gr overs responded generously to the call 
for sugar-beet acreage, with the result that an area in excess of the 
previous 5-year average was planted. ''leather and labor conditions were 
more nearly normal than in 1917, and only a 3mall percentage of the acre- 
age was abandoned. A sugar crop nearly equal to that of 1917 was pre- 



- 76 - 

duceci, again greatly relieving the sugar stringency. All sugar produced 
within the United States relieved to that extent shipping facilities badly 
needed for other purposes. 

When it becrrae apparent that there would be an actual shortage in the 
world's production amounting to several million tons, the problem of con- 
serving sugar became a matter of serious consideration. To meet this sit- 
uation, attention was given to the production of various forms of sirups. 
Efforts were made, with gratifying results, to stimulate the production of 
cane sirup. Attention was given to increased plantings, to better methods 
of banking cane, to the ontrol of cane pests, to improved cultural methods, 
and to improved methods of making cane sirup on the farm. 

Attention was called in 19.17 tc a serious cane disease in Porto Pico, 
which has since been found in this country. An emergency appropriation was 
made by Congress for its study and control. An experienced man was sent to 
Porto Rico to cooperate with the local agencies in the control of the pest. 
Extension of the Sor ghum nin-h Industry 

An appropriation was made in 1917 for bhe study and extension of the 
sorghum-sirup industry. Prior to the war, the estimated scrghum-sirup pro- 
duction was about 13,000,000 gallons a year. The estimated production was 
more than 30,000,000 gallons in 1917 and nearly as much in 1918. 

The production of maple sugar and sirup was greatly increased over the 
prewar figures. In cooperation with the Fureau of Chemistry, a palatable 
sirup was made from sugar beots. Thousands of families supplied themselves 
in part with sweets frcm one or more of these sources, thereby conserving 
large quantities of sugar. 

The field men of the office of Dry-Land Agriculture located at L!4 



- 7? - 
field stations in the Great Plains were conducting investigations in 
methods of crap production under dry -lard conditions wbe - e cereal produc- 
tion is the chief agricultural industry, They were therefore in a position 
to assist in many ways in increasing crop production. 

in response to a request received through the French High Commission 
to tiiR United States, t-he heads of the offices of Alkali and Drought Resist- 
ant Plant Investigations, Dry-Land Agriculture Investigations, and Western 
Irrigation Agriculture visited Algeria du. ing September and October, 1917, 
to ascertain conditions as to food -crop production in that colony and in what 
manner the United States could cooperate toward increasing or stabilizing 
production. 

! >'uch work ^as done in assembling dsta on the botanical resources of 
Africa and in preparing a map of that continent showing the principal zones 
cf natural vegetation as indicating the crop capabilities of the different 
sections. 

The Bureau of Plant Industry, through the office of horticultural and 
Penological Investigations, did much to stimulate the development of home 
vegetable gardening during the period, of war. Special bulletins were issued 
for the North and for the South on city gardens. A soeciul series of 
articles for use in magazines and papers was distributed, through the Office 
of Information. A special agent "^as employed jointly with the States Re- 
lations Service for handling vegetable-gardening information through State 
leaders and county agents. Special advice was furnished county agents and 
leaders of States in which large quantities of vegetables suitable for stor- 
aj were produced. Suggestions regarding the cooperative handling of the 
products of community gardens through p.il] owners : -n^- others were carried out. 



- 78 - 

Special attention was riven to the utilization of vegetable forcing 
planto, to minimize fuel consumption, and to produce maximum crops. Advice 
regarding the use of fuel by greenhouse operators Bor both vegetables and 
flowers was furnished the Fuel Administration, and advice concerning crop 
rotations was given to vegetable gravers. 

Supe rvise Agricu ltu ral ". r ork at C a ntonme nts 

Around practically all the Army cantonments there were considerable areas 
not used for military purposes, but which could be used for the production 
of food and feed. Mter conference with tne Quartermaster's Office, a member 
of the staff of the office of Horticultural and P analogical Investigations 
was assigned to this work under commission and, until the close of hostili- 
ties, supervised agricultural work at the cantonments. In this way, several 
thousands of acres of land were profitably cultivated. The same agencies also 
cooperated in the development of cold-storage facilities at the camps. 

The landscape gardener of the Eureau of Plant Industry assisted the 
Army and Wavy in laying out grounds used for recreation at camps, hospitals, 
and other places. 

In connection with reconstruction work for soldiers at the various hos- 
pitals, many suggestions were furnisned by the War Department as to agricul- 
ture! occupation. 

Previous to the outbreak of the war, seme attention had been given to 
the drying of vegetables, including potatoes, and this wort was undertaken 
on a larger scale in this country for the benefit of the English and French 
Armies soon after the beginning of the war in Europe. Anticipating the 
Bhortage of food crops, investigations were made to determine the compara- 
tive value of the simpler types of drying apparatus for handling fruit and 



- 79 - 

vegetable products. Demonst rati one were carried on in several counties in 
Jew York State where potatoes were available in abundance anc 1 where fruit- 
irying houses were located. Py slightly modifying the construction of these 
iiouses and employing mechanical peeling and slicing devices, it was possible 
to produce a dried potato which, when ground in the ordinary feed mills 
available to the country districts, turned out a potato meal that gave very 
satisfactory results in the manufacture of yeast breads. 
Salvaging of Fruit and Vegetable Cr ops 

Instruction was given in the salvaging of fruit and vegetable crops 
which could not be satisfactorily marketed because of the lack of transporta- 
tion facilities. In regions where there were large crops of perishable fruits 
which could be dried either by means of the sun or special equipment detailed 
demonstrations were made. 

In addition to participation in the general war activities of the de- 
partment, the Chief of the Bureau was designated a mem bar of a commission of 
four to determine the values of property taken by Presidential proclamation 
in Harford and Baltimore counties, Vd. , for the establishment of the Aberdeen 
Proving Ground and Edgewood Arsenal. The tract involved comprised somewhat 
more than 40,000 acres of 3 and fronting on Chesapeake Eay and its tributary 
rivers, including the homes of some 3,000 people, numerous highly improved 
farms, canning factories, schools, and churches, as well ps several of the 
leading duck-shooting grounds of the Middle Atlantic coast and a large area 
of forest land. The urgency of the munition situation overseas required 
the utmost expedition in the clearing of the tract of its inhabitants, which 
was practically accomplished between October 25 and December 31, 1917, under 
conditions involving a minimum of financial loss and physical hardship to 



- so - 

them. 

In August, September, and October, 1918, the Chief of the bureau, 
as a member of an Agricultural Commission designated by the Secretary 
of Agriculture, investigated agricultural conditions in Great Britain 
and France to secure information needed in shaping the crop-production 
program, for 1$)19. The results attained were briefly summarized in the 
report of the Agricultural Commission to Europe, published by the de- 
partment on January 17, 19*9 • 

For the last two years the Associate Chief of the Bureau of Plant 
Industry has served as Secretary of the Agricultural Committee of the 
National Research Council, which committee also served as Agricultural 
Advisory Committee to the Council of National Defense, 



81 - 



THE BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY 

Chemistry is one of the most important sciences, if indeed it does 
not, stand absolutely first in this regard, in the conduct of modern war- 
faro. Naturally, therefore, the Bureau of Chemistry of the United States 
Department of Agriculture, having a large taff of trained chemists and 
being equipped to render service along many lines, was called upon to 
perform a great deal of war work immediately after the beginning of hos- 
tilities. 

These lines of work took about six main forms, - conserving essential 
materials, preparing specifications for materials of war, -testing supplies 
for the Army and Navy, making technical investigation of war problems, 
and service in consultation and or committees. 

From the outset, very many, loth: of old agencies and new ones created 
for the performance of specific war tasks, called on the Bureau of Chemis- 
try for assistance. The Food Administration asked for aid in creating its 
organization, in gathering data regarding food supplies, and in technical 
advice regarding manufacturing processes and possible substitutes for 
foods. A large number of men were detailed from the Bureau of Chemistry 
to the Food Administration for important tasks. Among them were experts 
in baking and the use of flour substitutes, in the conservation of fats 
and oils and in various other lines of food conservation. The Bureau of 
Chemistry organized the bakery inspection service of the Food. Administra- 
tion and, through the use of its own and State cooperative organizations, 



-32 - 
made it possible to enforce the regulations regarding the conservation of 
flcur months before this result would have been possible in B.ny other way. 

Depa rtin o- rt Chemists P r ompt to Aid 
"any of the War boards and other agercies called on the Bureau of 
Chemistry for specialists and for technical advice, and detailed members of 
their own staffs to the Bureau to receive instruction in technical methods. 
Among the organizations with which one or more of these forms of cooperation 
was maintained are the War Trade Board, the Pailroad Administration, the 
Bureau of Aircraft Production, the Council of National Defense, the Quarter- 
master Corps of the Army, the Ordnance Fureau, the Camouflage Section of 
the Engineer Corps, the Chemical Warfare Service, the Sanitary Corps of the 
Army, and the Gas Warfare Service. 

Chemical apparatus, pharmacological apparatus, chemicals and scientific 
materials, which could not have been obtained through regular channels without 
months of delay, were furnished to the various war agencies, and laboratory 
space and facilities were pieced at their disposal. 

One of the most important lines of war work and one in which the numerous 
agencies of the Government cooperated, was the conservation of essential 
maTerials. In the various kinds of work done along this line by the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, none' was of greater or of more far reaching importance 
than those carried on by the Bureau of Chemistry. 

Eefore the outbreak of the war, the Bureau of Chemis r \ rv had given mu en 
attention to conserving tin plate. The problem became acute at the be- 
ginning of the war, since the impending scarcity of containers would have 
interfered seriously with the preservation of the various perishable food 
products of this country. The Secretaries of Agriculture and Commerce, in 



- 83 - 

cooperation with a committee representing the manufacturers o f tin plate, 
manufacturers of cane, packers of perishable and nonperishable feeds and 
other interested parties, took up questions of policy in this matter and 
made recommendations to the industries, curtailing the pack of certain non- 
perishable commodities. The Chief of the Bureau of Chemistry w as desig- 
nated as the representative of the Department of Agriculture on this com- 
mittee. The tin plate committee "/as able to effect a great conservation of 
tin plate for use in preserving more perishable products and preventing, as 
far as possible, congestion of the transportation facilities and related 
difficulties which would have followed if unrestricted canning of all sorts 
had continued. As soon as the Food Administration and the Priorities Hoard 
were created, the work which had been previously dene by the tin plate can- 
mittee was handled with ample authority in lav/ by these two organizations. 

Ace tic Acid frcm Alcohol 

:n the recommendation of the Chief of the Bureau of Chemistry, an 
Interdepartmental Ammonia Committee was appointed to arrange for the con- 
trol of the production and distribution of ammonia in this country. He 
wa3 appointed a member of the committee, The licensing and execution of 
this control was carried on by the Food Administration. It was a matter of 
much importance, since an equitable distribution of ammonia was necessary 
if both the refrigeration and explosive requirements of the country were 
to be met. Methods were suggested to certain industries as to possible 
means of conserving ammonia. 

On the recommendation of the Bureau of Chemistry, steps were taken 
to control the distribution of arsenic and related compounds . A committee 



- 84 - 

was appointed for this purpose. This action led to the licensing of the 
arsenic industry by the Food Ad-'inictrettion. The control of these products 
was necessary so that neither the loss cf focds by the lack of insecticides 
and fungicides nor the crippling of the program for gas warfare service 
should occur for the lack of arsenic. Analysis was made of a large number 
of insecticides for use for different military purposes. 

An investigation was conducted by the Food Control Laboratory to de- 
velop practical methods for the conversion of alcohol into acetic acid. At 
one time, the control by the Far Department of the acetic acid supply threat- 
ened to make it impossible for Paris green to be manufactured. The Bureau 
of Chemistry assisted in introducing the use of distilled vinegar for the 
manufacture of Paris green instead of acetic acid, thus insuring a sufficient 
supply of this essential insecticide. 

The Focd Control Laboratory furnished information to the National Re- 
search Council relative to certain fermentation processes, especially the 
production of acetone by fermentation. 

At the request of the Surge en General's office and the War Industries 
Board, a careful study was undertaken by the Phyt o- Chemi cal Laboratory of 
the plants in the United States available for the preparation of caffeine 
on a commercial basis. 

Considerable work was done by the Food Control Laboratory in coopera- 
tion with the Food Administration in regard to garbage disposal and utiliza- 
tion. 



• 85 - 
Many Hew Food P rocesses Prea e nted 

Information wa3 furnished the Food Administration relative to the 
brewing of basr in order to assist in the program of conserving grains. 

Information was furnished the United States Shipping Board relative 
to the domestic production and consumption of fusel oil. 

An investigation was made at the request of the Quartermaster Corps 
of the Army of the effect of calcium mono-phosphate in an aluminum pr. 
phate baking powder to ascertain the practical leavening results of the 
presence of lime phosphate when mixed in amounts frcra 1 to 10 per cent. 

A research was conducted for a cellulose acetate solvent for use in 
airplanes . 

A study was made of the determination of seme of the forms oi nitrogen 
in explosives and an exact method "'as developed for the determination of 
nitrogen in organic combinations. 

During the war period, the Carbohydrate Laboratory was active in the 
investigation of a number of new sources of supply of sweet sirups to re- 
lieve the sugar shortage caused by the war shipping situation. A very 
palatable and satisfactory sirup was prepared from raisins. Fairly satis- 
factory sirups were prepared from the juices expressed from green corn 
stalks and by the acid hydrolysis of sweet potato starch. A number of 
other sources were investigated, including sctol, a desert plant native to 
the a.rid regions of the sout'w/ept. 

Investigations were conducted looking toward the stimulation of th*e 
use of fresh fish in inland cities in order to conserve meat and other 
nitrogenous food products. Improved method? for shipping fish were de- 
veloped. In the State of California, considerable work was done toward 



■• 86 - 
introducing improved methods in preserving the fish native to the Facific 
Coast. As a result of this work, this fish industry has became established 
on the Facific Coast, The use of fish has been stimulated and bettor 
methods for packing, shipping ard handling it have been introduced to the 
trade . 

Sub stitutes for Fl our and Sugar 

An extensive educational campaign was conducted to introduce into more 
general use the improved methods developed by the Food Fesea.rch Laboratory 
of the Bureau of Chemistry for the handling, packing and shipping of poultry 
and eggs. As a result, the loss of much poultry and large quantities of 
eggs »;aE prevented. Through cooperation with the Food Administration, State 
and City Food and "rug Inspectors, and the regulatory force of the Fureau of 

hei istry, a campaign to bring about the more genera] candling of eggs near 
points of production was inaugurated and carried on duri .; the period of the 
war. This? work not only prevented a loss of large quantities of eggs, but 
conserved shipping facilities-. 

The regulations issued by the Food Administration regarding flour sub- 
stitutes were based largely upon information furnished bv the Bureau of 
Chemistry. Experts had been working on flour substitutes for a number of 
years before the United States entered the war and were in a position to 
furnish the Focd Administration with specific formulas a3 to the proportions 
in which various substitutes coul'.d be used in baking. One of iheiii taught 
the Army cooks ho" to bake with various substitutes. Complete information 
on the subject was furnished commercial bakeries throughout the country. 
The work on flour substitutes was made known to the public generally 



- 87 - 
through tho popular publications of the Department of Agriculture; through 
lectures and demonstrations; through county agents of the Staxes delations 
Service, a large number of whan visited the bureau in regard to this work; 
and through conferences with the members of the Food Administration. The 
work had an important tearing on the saving of wheat that resulted from the 
measures adopted by the Food Administration, 

A great shortage of sugar necessitated a study cf other sweetening 
agents to replace sugar in the manufacture of soft drinks, "ver 100,000 
tons oi sugar is used annually in the preparation of soft drinks. It was 
demonstrated by experiments in the Bureau of Chemistry that probably 50,000 
tons of this sugar could be saved by utilizing other sweetening agents. 
After laboratory experiments bed demonstrated that this saving '.ould be 
effected, the information was furnished to the trade through articles pub- 
lished in trade journals, through lectures, and through the distribution of 
abcut 30,000 leaflets to bottlers and others interested. A great many 
commendations have been received from soft drink manufacturers regarding 
results which were ac ccrnplished, s.crre asserting that the timeliness of the 
information issued by the bureau saved the soft drink industry, representee 1 
by 13,000 bottlers and a capital of '$250,000, 000, from great loss if not 
serious disaster. 

Fconomif:s in Fats and _0ils 

Investigations were made looking to the conservation of fats and oile 
which are not only a nec3ssary part of t ie food supply but occupy an im~ 
portant place in the manufacture of munitions, in the lubrication of air- 
craft engines, and in paints, varnishes and w^ter-proof ing compounds. One 
of the first rescurcer to feel tho effect of war was the stock of fats 



- eg - 

and oils. This was due to the imperative need for an e»c>rmous amount of 
nitro-gly eorin, one of the component parts of which is gylcerine obtained 
ao a by-product fran the manufacture of aoap from certain oils and fats, 
When it is considered that but one part of glycerine to every nine part3 
of fatty acids or soap is produced from the oils and fats, it is not sur- 
prising that the price of glycerine in England soared fran $250 to $1,250 
a ton within a very ehort time after the beginning of the war. 

Economies in the way of oils were recommended, Vegetable oils were 
used in ever increasing amount 3 to supplement the animal fats and oils, 
Some, like cottonseed oil, make a satisfactory substitute for part, at least, 
of the animal fats and such products as lard oil. Some of the less well- 
known vegetable oils, like peanut and corn, grew rapidly in publi c favor as 
substitutes for olive oil. Small butchers and farmers were urged to trim 
the animals they slaughtered closely to obtain all the fat possible for 
rendering as lard or tallow. The housewives wre urged to be as economical 
as possible in the use of animal fats. The question of recovering fatty 
matter fran garbage and trade waste was investigated. The use of hydro- 
genated cottonseed oil as a substitute for palm oil was studied. 

As a result of a large number of fires occurring in the cotton gins 
of the southwest, an investigation wan carried on to determine the cause or 
causes of these fires, and, if possible, to develop means of prevention, 
during the sear- on, 471 gins w-^re visited. It was found that 297 of ther^ 
gins had, during the season, a total of 607 fires. Among tne gins visited 
there were only 184 that had not had fires. During the course of the in- 
vestigation, as much information as possible was obtained from all the ginrj 
regarding the fires and the gensral conditions under which they had occurred. 



- 89 - 

Hatches are popularly supposed to be ths chief caose of these fires. 
However, as a result of two separate teats when over 500 matches were fed 
into cotton going into gins, no firos were cbcained in this section of the 
gin, and only four Bmall fire? ware obtained in the huller press. This 
in;-: cates that matches are r. • sponsible for the large number of fires 
credited to them. As a result of the investigation, it was determined that 
static electricity is probably the primary cause of th^ae fires. 
Million s Saved in Or a in a nd Gotten Fir a? 

Experiments were made to see if cotton would be ignited by static 
electricity and it was found that it would be readily ignited by a spark 
not over a quarter of an inch in length. During the season, over 25 gins 
in different sections of the country had been grounded to remove, if possible, 
the stat: c electricity generated in the normal process of ginning. Those 
which have reported shew conclusively -chat the: grounding has greatly de- 
creased the number of fires occurring in the gins. It is. believed that 
furtner investigations are necessary to salvo this problem conclusively. 

A campaign to prevent explosions of grain-dust originated in 1S18, follow- 
ing a disastrous explosion and fire in the Dow Storage Elevate, Prooklyn, 
,vT ev York, in which a large quantity of grain vac destroyed ard considerable 
damage dona to property. Steps were taken to secure a competent organiza- 
tion of well trained men in order to carry or: this work. In o~aer t -. thor- 
oughly acquaint the grain trace throughout the country with + " results of 
the investigation which had "]}.'-■ i nee cause of the explosions, i aetings 
were held in the principal grain centers throughout the country. By means 
of lantern elides, motion pictures and miniature dust explosions, the re- 



- 90 - 
results v;er<. brought to the attention of fillers and grain men. Steps 
were taken to secure *Vir aRpistauoo and cooperation of the workmen. Plans 
were made for the field men to visit the mills and elevators throughout the 
country and present personally the work that tho department is doing and 
to impress upon the men the necessity for exercising precautions to prevent 
these explosions and fires. 

The results can be briefly summarized ss> follows: 

1. The -;/or:: has been well reeei/ed by tho milling and grain trade 

and the department has had ec-oiva cooperation in the conduct of the campaign. 

2. The campaign has resulted in the adoption of precautionary :..eaeur^n 
and the removal of dangerous condition? that would leaa to explosion and fire. 

3. Active and hearty cooperation has been manifested by the workmen 
in their effort to assist the Government in conserving the food supply and 
thereby winning the war. 

4. No explosions of ierge pro'oortioii? have occurred during the conduct 
of the campaign for a period of over 15 months, while during similar periods 
since the origin of the work in 1913 from one to six disastrous explosions 
have occurred in grain mills and elevators. 

5. Th6 campaign has resulted in a reduction of the losses duo to 
fire and explosion and a grain journal recently stated that in 1918 there 
were 33 per cent fewer elevators destroyed by fire and about 44 per cent 
fewer damaged. 

6. The field men during the campaign will have visited every mill 
in the country of ICO barrels and over capacity and every elevator of 

50 , CCO bushels cr over capacity. As a result, dangerous conditions are re- 
moved and efforts made on the part of the companies to adopt the department 
r e c o mme ndat ions , . 

7. Since the conserving of food and the furnishing of food to the 
Allies by America has been recognized as being responsible to a very lax 
degree in winning the war, it is "elt that this campaign was one cf the most 
active agencies in making it possible for the protection of grain in mills 
and elevators and the prevention of its destruction by fire a d explosion. 



- 91 - 

Grain Dust Expl osio ns Checke d 

A special educational campaign was conducted to acquaint threshermen 
and farmers in the grain growing sections of the country with the methods 
that had been developed by the department for the prevention of explosions 
and fires. About 30 specially equipped demonstrational and experimental 
machines were provided by the thresher companies and located in five grain 
growing sections during the threshing season. 

In addition to the special demonstrational equipment, a popular cir- 
cular, poster a.id correspondence card were prepared. This literature was 
given wide distribution through the States Relations Service and thresher 
agencies in order to bring to the attention of the threshermen the necessity 
for exorcising precautions against fire and explosions. 

Previous to the beginning of the' season, a large number of meetings 
were hold in the Pacific Northwest. The work was presented by means of 
lantern slides, motion pictures and dust explosion demonstrations. As a 
result of this special educational work, a large number of threshermen and 
farmers adopted precautions to reduce losses. The results of the thresher 
campaign may be summarized as follows: 

1. Greater precautions were adopted during the 1918 season by the 
threshermen and farmers throughout the country to prevent these fires and 
explosions than in any previous season. 

2. As a result of the campaign by the department the losses due to 
explosions and fires were greatly reduced and damage to large quantities cf 
grain accordingly prevented. 

3. While it is impossible to estimate the amount of grain saved in 
bushels, it is felt that in conjunction with the work done by the Food Ad- 
ministration, a large quantity of grain was saved which would otherwise 
have been destroyed by fire, or lost from other causes. 



4. The measures developed by the department for the prevention ai 3 . 
plosions and fires led to the possibility of improving the quality of grain 
during threshing and also the development of methods for the collection and 
disposal of smut spores, thereby diminishing the possibility of soil infesta- 
tion. 

PiUrJ£S£3i J .9 • L 1" 'ork Benef i ts Peace T imes 

The dehydration of fruits and vegetables is an important industry in 
•'. r ti ic and promises to become commercially important in times of peace. 
Before the United States entered the war, the Allies were in the market for 
large quantities oi dried food products and considerable study was made by 
the Bureau of Chemistry of erocessos for drying. The problems involved in 
the process of drying are principally those of securing scientific control of 
temperature, humidity and. air currents. When the United States entered the 
war, the great possible saving in shipping space and facilities by the use of 
dried vegetables was pointer out to the v/ar and Navy Departments. Because of 
an unfortunate experience which the Navy Department ! r, \ several years before 
with improperly dried food products, both departments were reluctant to use 
them. However, the acuteness oi the-shipping situation and evidence fur- 
nished by this bureau showing that food, when properly dried and packed, was 
both palatable and nu+ritious, later led the Army to buy large quantities of 
d r i e d v e ge t ab 1 e s . 

' /. appropriation of 0250,000 was made by Congress in the Agriculture! 
appropriation act for the fiscal year 1919 which became, available in Octcl 
1918, for investigations looking to the establishment of a commercial drying 
industry in th? United States, as well as tc make available sufficient dried 
foods for the Army, An officer was detailed from the Sanitary Corps of the 
Army to cooperate with the Lureau of Chemistry in directing this work. 



- r ;: - 

ahc 'Tar Department requested the Bureau o" Chemistry to recomnond 
i rials for waterproofing Array shoes. Pr cticallv e-.1I of tin . . rci; - 

waterp' jofing aa.teria.ls for leather which are in use ii this country were 
te >t< . their waterproofing qualities, and many samples both oi treated 

and v itr3 tec soles and xr.zol.es wez"e tested. Thin wor!< took the full timo oi 
three oi the analysts of the Le the- and Paper Laboratory. Few commercial 
w toro-oof ing materials hsd a high water roofing value and many "i them were 
direct! ■- harmful either t: the leather or to the sewing thread. It was ao- 
cesr.rry to prep-re new formulae. About sixty were devise:' a d and 

from these a number that proved satisfactory have "ocen adopted and used by 
the Ylar Department for the waterproofing of shoe leather. The bureau also 
recommended, preparations which were suitable both for shoe dubbings and for 
ointrents x c be usee for trench foot. 

Prose ryin r 3h< ■ u r toss 

The Ordnance Department requested assistance in finding leather which 
would stand the rip'- temperatures likely to occur in the recoil mechanism of 
guns . ere leather gas2:ets are immersed in heavy mineral oil at exceedingly 
higr temperatures. live ti gat ion showed that chrome tanned leather of a 
high chromium content end oi low moisture content would be satisfactory. The 
Brdnence Department, u reeult of the report of this work, secured leather 
that ■ - satisfactory for that purpose. 

Investigations were nade for the Quartermaster Corps and the Ordnanc 
Department on harness dr^ssin a .6 in finding substitutes foi .cat's iootj 
oil for this purpose. Extensive s vi ionts on the effect of tils, greases 
and waxes, and various experiments 0.. upper, sole and harness leathers were 
carried on. In addition to the value of this information for ,var purposes, 



- 34 - 
it will be of great use both to tanners and users of leather. Investigation 

was made of the effect of offensive gases on upper leather. 

The chemist in charge of the Leather and Paper Laboratory assisted the 
War (department in investigations on the waterproofing and mildewproof ing of 
fabrics. War Department contracts for such fabrics were let on the basis of 
the results of this investigation. The waterproofing and mildewproof ing 
formulas recommended by the bureau worked out on a commercial scale with 
highly gratifying results. At the request of the Conservation anc 1 Reclama- 
tion Division of the Quartermaster Corps, a member of the Leather and Paper 
Laboratory force visited several Quartermaster Depots of the Army to study 
water-proofing treatments and report methods which were being used. As u 
result, the methods of waterproofing were materially improved and. cheapened. 
Waterpr oofin g for Tents and Paper 

Investigation was made of adhesives for tent patching and, as a result, 
several preparations which had been found to be of exceptional merit were 
adopted and used by the Conservation and Reclamation Division in patching and 
repairing tents. 

An investigation was made for the Ordnance Department at the Nov.' York 
and Philadelphia depots, of waterproofing baling papers for overseas ship- 
ments. Goods were actually baled and the bales submitted, both dry and wet 
to severe handling. On the basis of the behavior of the waterproof paper and 
on laboratory tests, specifications for baling paper for overseas shipment 
were adopted by the War Department. The matter of baling and the use of 
waterproof papers for the purpose is one of yeat importance. It has been 
claimed by the War Department that baling of goods for the Army has saved at 
least half of the shipping space previously required, and that this saving 



- 95 - 
has been equivalent to $50,000,000 to the Government. Undoubtedly, bales 
will prove more economical than boxns for commercial goods. Llanufacturors 
of baling paper are taking up the matter of furnishing materials for baling 
commercial packages in the future. Recommendations were made for a paper to 
be used in wrapping tools and metal parts to prevent rusting in overseas 
shipments. 

Investigations were made on the manufacture of fiber containers us a 
substitute for steel for powder and other propellent charges. Large numbers 
of fiber containers for powder were purchased by the Ordnance Department. 
Careful investigation, however, developed that these would not be satisfactory 
for the purpose, since an increase of a fraction cf the percentage in the 
moisture content of the powder would entirely change the trajectory of the 
shell and cause it to fall short, thus perhaps exposing American soldiers to 
the fire of their own artillery. Re commendations wore prepared for several 
types of containers for the Favy Department. 

'he Chemical Warfare Service sought the aid of the Bureau of Chemistry 
inaecuring suitable canister- fillers that were sufficiently porous for use 
in gas masks. A high grade blotting paper was furnished which was more satis- 
factory than anything that had been used and from which a satisfactory filling 
material for the absorption of gases was secured. 

An investigation was made for the Camouflage Section of the Engineer 
Corps of methods for fireproofing fabrics and vegetable matter used in 
camouflage work. Camouflage material is particularly liable to catch fire and 
thus reveal the location of supplies and forces on the battle field. 



- 95 - 
Gi ves Standard:; for v '-r Pure ^.ses 

Because of its long experience Ln teoting various materials for the 
Government departments , as well as foods, drugs and chemicals in its own 
work, the Bureau of Chemistry was in position at the outbreak of the war to 
aid the purchasing agencies of the War and tavy Departments in preparing 
specifications for many of the materials which it was necessary for them to 
purchase. The preparation of specifications that will enable the Government 
to secure the kinds o*" materials needed in- every purpose is a work of vital 
importance, especially when the Government has to buy immense quantities 
from different sources and from people who have vague ideas of the purposes 
for which the materials are to be used. Without adequate specifications, the 
Government would have been supplied with immense quantities of goods which 
would not answer the purpose, causing much loss in time, materials and trans- 
portation facilities. Assistance was rendered the Quartermaster Corps in 
preparing specifications for food products, since the bureau had accumulated 
in connection with its work in the enforcement of the Food and Drugs Acts 
much data in reference xo definitions and standards for foods. 

In addition to preparing specifications for supplies, the Bureau of 
Chemistry was called upon to analyze and test many articles of supplies fur- 
nished to the Army and Navy. The Quartermaster Corps of the Army, in the 
beginning, desired to organize its own testing laboratories but after a short 
time abandoned this plan and called upon the Bureau of Chemistry, to test 
such foods as required chemical analysis. All the field laboratories of 
the bureau located in the trade centers throughout the United States, as 
well as the laboratories in Washington, were male available for this purpose. 



A laboratory was installed in Atlanta, Ga. , for the sole purpose of testing 
foods for the kmy. The bureau had act only well equipped laboratories 
and a large staff of experienced food and drag analysts, but by years of 
experience had developed the most efficient and economic methods of analysis 
for all ordinary food products. As it was necessary to continue at the 
sane time the analytical work involved in the enforcement of the Jood and 
Drugs Act, the Quartornaatcr Corps detailed a number of chemists: to the labor- 
atories whore most needed to assise, in the testing of foods. This work was 
given precedence ove:~ all other testing work, and recorts wore made as prompt- 
ly as practicable. 

A large number of other articles were tested. The Hiscellaneous Labor- 
atory made tests of insecticides for the various branches of Military Service. 
Analyse^ were made of a large number of soft drinks for use in military 
camps. Tests were mace of hm-ness leathers for the War Department ,' greases 
and tanning materials for the Quartermaster Corps, the castor oil and beano 
imported into this country for the bureau of Aircraft' Production , the effi- 
ciency of various photograr^ic chemicals, tin foils and collapsible tubes 
for the War Industries Bo^.~g, food cans mace from untinned steel and treated 
by a rust-proofing process, castor bean hulls to determine if they contained 
potash in available quantities for the Aviation Corp3. 

Aid for Airplane Ph ot ogra phy 

The following list of materials tested by the Iviieroeheumcal Laboratory 
will illustrate the great variety of products handled by the bureau, although 
it dors not include all suhstances tested by ot^er laboratories: Leans, 
bread, cakes, cookies, candy, cereals, cheese, chewing gum, cocoa, cloths, 
coffee, corn, cream, di-ugs, emergency rations, fish flour and meal, foot 



- 98 - 
powder s hospital gauze, glass, hair from life preservers, ice cream and 

i, LriE ;cticides, jams, midd] . .:. a3 des , oakum, paper, peanut butter, 
pudding, salad dressing, soaps, spices, starch, stock feed, sugar, sweet 
potatoes, tapioca, tomato products, twine, ir.d yeast. 

To aid in the detection of adulteration in foods, a portfolio of about 
fifty photo-micrographs of food products was made for use of the Sanitary 
Corps of the A ray. 

Technical invest i ;ations of v;ar problems were conducted along numerous 
lines. The work on sensitizing dyes was undertaken at the solicitation of 
the Photographic Section for the purpose of developing dyes necessary to 
the sensitizing of gelatine emulsions. Dyes of this character had been pro- 
duced before the war only by German concerns. After the beginning of the war, 
the development was undertaken by Great Britain. These dyes are employed in 
airplane photography for the purpose of making visible objects not photo- 
graphed upon the ordinary plate, especially in adverse conditions of the 
atmosphere. A large number of dyes of this type were prepared in consider- 
able quantities. The best dye of the pinaverdole type has been developed 
to a -point where the production of large quantities can bo curried on at 
any time. The study of the dicyanine dyes is progressing in a very satis- 
factory manner and there has been produced in considerable amounts a :i_, 3 
that sensitizes to a very marked degree in infra red. 

Arrangements have been completed for the continuation of this work in 
the Color Laboratory of the Bureau of Chemistry where the dyes can be made 
available to manuf'actu ere and users, since the Bureau of Chemistry h 
authority by law to dispose of chemicals of this nature. The Color Laboratory 



- 99 - 

proposes to extend the study of the dyes of this series with a view to fix- 
ing their constitution and chemical properties. Dyes of this class have 
much scientific value in making possible- the iudy of the spectrum in the 
infra red region where photographic methods have not been applicable. 

Developing; Airplane ornoKe screens 

Dyes for use in color screens have been studied. It is especially de- 
sirable to develop a color screen capable of distinguishing live and dead 
leaves, iron rust and, in general, shades of red and green. Several new 
dyes have been investigated and some very satisfactory results have been ob- 
tained in the preliminary studies. 

A new process for the manufacture of secondary alcohols from the waste 
gaees of the petroleum industry has been studied r and sucpes-„. :.i.ly developed 
by the Color Laboratory. The process is most promisin-g. 

Increase in the production of the valuable war' materials, acetcne and 
ketones, was undertaken by the Color Laboratory. The waste gases from cer- 
tain gasoline processes in use in the potroleuai industry have been studied 
for the production of secondary alcohol. Tbtsc alcohols can be converted 
into acetone and a commercial process foV carrying on this chemical reaction 
has been developed. From this investigation, there promises to be developed 
a new source of acetone that will result in cheapening this valuable chem- 
ical. There is promise of development of a large industry which, to a con- 
siderable extent, may supersede the wood distillation industry and, di- 
rectly or indirectly, affect the manufacture of many aliphatic chemicals. 

Smoke screen investigations were made, the object being to etudy the 
development of smoke screens from airplanes for the purpose of obscuring 



- ion - 
planes in flight and to place a cloud over t v c landscape to obscure terres- 
trial movements from air obi v tic i. The work has proven that it is al- 
most impracticable to attempt r>uch operations on a large scale, on account 
of the large woight of materials involved, but as a result of the studies 
nov methods of signalling by aeans of volatile dyes and a method of imitat- 
ing a plane on fire ha.ve beon successfully developed. 

Gw If ask Vo rk Invaluabl e 

The Medical Corps of the Air Sarvice, in connection with other investi- 
gators, brought to the attention of this bureau the groat utility of certain 
dyes in the st i of blood. One of the most valuable of these has been 

prepared, submitted J or investigation and proved to be of groat use. Steps 
ha\e been taken to prepare this aye in large quantities. There seeras to be 
sufficient assurance that it will become available in the near future and 
that it ".'ill greatly assist medical investigations. 

i«Iuch of the fundamental work for Gas Defense Warfare, on the absorption 
of toxic gases by charcoal was done by the Carbohydrate Laboratory and the 
Color Laboratory. This work had a very wide scope and has been of funda- 
mental importance. It included the preparation and investigation of the pro- 
perties of charcoal derived from a very large number of natural organic 
materials, since the g&.s-absorbing power of char prepared from any one 
source varies greatly with the method of carbonisation. It included the 
study of a largo range of methods for treatment of the organic materials 
during carbonization. The Bureru of Finns cooperated with the Bureau of 
Chemistry. The work was carried on for a period of nearly two years and 

iisted in the development of a gas mask that was more efficient than any 
other mask in use by --he Allies. 



- io:.- 

The Carbohydrate Laboratory has been the. source of supply of mre 
carbohydrates for bacteriological research fcr a number of investigators 
working in collaboration wit>! the Army Medical Department. The rare carbo- 
hydrates are valuable and essentia", reagents used by the bacteriologists to 
differentiate between closely related strains of bacteria. Luring the war 
period, many of these reagents could not be bought from chemical supply 
houses. Just prior to the signing of the armistice, arrangements had been 
completed with the Army Medical Department to enlarge very materially this 
function of the Carbohydrate Laboratory. 

An investigation of the explosive properties of pure nitro-dulcita 
and nitromannite, in cooperation with the Research Division of the Chemical 
Warfare Service, was carried on by the Carbohydrate Laboratory. Nitro- 
dulcite and nitromannite appear promising as detonators and as sensitizing 
agents in the production of high explosives and may eventually find ex- 
tensive application. The investigation, so far ?s completed, includedthe 
development of an electrolytic method for producing dulcite, study of the 
proper conditions for nitration of dulcite and mannito and processes for 
the purification of nitro-dulcite and it.r^.-mannite . Ilitro-dulcoto may 
be used as a booster-charge in loading shells. 

Detect Ground Gl?..ss in Food 

The Department of Jus tic submitted a large number of samples of foods 
for examination to determine whether they contained poison, ground glass 
or other harmful substances. Many others were submitted by State Officials. 
Private individuals sent to the bureau a large number of food products 
which they believed had ceen tampered with. All such sample^ wore tested. 
In most cases, the resvlxs were negative. 



- 102 - 
', soIIokqous technological investigations woio wade including a 
micrc-chonical study of trench lice powders for the War Department, color 
investigations on tho absorption of chlorine by charcoal developing a now 
process for the manufacture of hydrochloric acid from chlorine; •: study of 
ths effluents from camp sewers; an investigation of poisons commonly employ- 
Id in exterminating rats; tests on the toxicological action of hardwood tar 
preliminary to its being tried against body vermin on soldier:-; investiga- 
tion? of solder of 80 per cent load, 10 per cent tin an;'. 10 per cent cadmium 
to dot ermine if it was suited for use on the side scams of cans; investiga- 
pioi s upon the operation of a number of plants producing materials required 
in airplane manufacture, especially certain alcohols and ketones, and in- 

tigations of sore of the esters: of lactic acid to determine whether they 
would be valuable as solvents in the manufacture cf airplane dopes. 

study was made by the Water Laboratory to determine tho value of the 
T -.-i; Procecs for the production of caustic coda. The-, demand for caustic 
soda, duo to wai activities, was bo groat that there was an estimated short- 

: i vor 100,000 tons > year. It had been suggested to the 
Council of National Defense that possibly the Loowig Process could be util- 
ized for increasing tho supply without seriously interfering with other oper- 
ations . :.;; by using equipment which was already available. Inquiry was also 
made tc determine if other materials might be used either to replace caustic 
poda or if the raw materials could be utilized by the consumer so as to re- 
duce the demand especially for household purposes and as a cleansing agent 
in bottling establishments, machine shops, etc.. A report was submitted to the 
Council of National iiofenso of the relative cost of the raw materials and 
the kind of package which could be used in packing them, and directions were 



- 103 ~ 
furnished for ihe uso of the raw lateri- is in such a way as to ^reduce 
c aue tic s ■ 1 . 

The bureau cf Chemistry ..seir-tod in the organization of i od Di- 

vision of tin nitary Corps or" the Army, ii the Gas Warfare Service and of 
i number of the boardt ai.d ura LI: ;ees ch; rged v/ith important lines of war 
•vcri. k number cf the members of the technical staff of this bureau •jrere 
given commissions in different branches of the. Army and assigned to work 
al ng t line- of their qualifications. .ntairtar.ee was stiver the Sanitary 
Corps in e number of ways, particularly in analytical 7/ork necessary in 
nutrition survevs at Amy camps. 



104 



T:3E BUREAU OF SOILS 

The Bureau of Soils actively aided in the work of carrying on the war 
i: two ways — by supplying the War Department with maps and other informa- 
iion needed in map construction, and by cooperating with that department in 
factory scale experiments on fixation of atmosphere nitrogen at the Arlington 
laboratories. 

When war with Germany was declared, there was a strong demand for defi- 
nite cartographic information, especially of that part of the country lying 
along the eastern and southern coast. The Unite"' States Geological Survey, 
having been engaged primarily in the mapping of the mineralized regions of 
the country, had devoted its attention, in the main, to the rougher mountain- 
ous parts, and had left the work of surveying much of the smooth, agricul- 
tural lands of this coast section to the future. It therefore happened that 
the maps constructed by the bureau of Soils, though they do not show the 
topography, were the best extant. These mars were ir. great demand by various 
bureaus of the War Department. Copies of all published maps were called for 
and in many cases advance information concerning areas, the maps of which 
had not been published, was supplied. Information concerning the soil ex 
certain localities ws.s also furnished the War Department, though much 
uso could have beer taade of the accumulated data in possession of the bur? 
particularly in the locating of campe and cantonments. 

Dr awing ft it r o ~e n f roj : the Air 

The work on fixation 3f atmospheric nitrogen was carried on actively 
in cooperation with tl ? Bureau of Ordnance oi :■■ e W< r Department. 



a;c 



- 105 - 
installation of equipment for producing synthetic ammonia was successfully 
operated, and many problems connected with the fixing of nitrogen from the 
air were solved. The work was highly valuable to the War Department and 
the Government was fortunate in having a factory scale laboratory equipped 
for the purpose. The results would have assumed much greater importance 
had the war continued into the present year, but they will not be without 
value in connection with the operation of the Government nitrate plant in 
tine of peace. 

When the United States entered the war, the Division of Fertilizer 
Resources in this bureau had at Arlington a Haber synthetic ammonia apparatus 
well along toward successful operatic-!. With the entry of the United States 
into the war, synthetic ammonia became immediately more important as a prod- 
uct for munitions than as a product for fertilisers. Accordingly, the bureau 
at once got in touch with the War Department and entered into cooperative 
arrangements bj wcich the work could be prosecuted much more rapidly by the 
use of additional funds, and chemists secured through the selective draft, 
than could have been acre with the limited funds at the disposal of this 
bureau. As a result of this cooperation, the plant was pushed to completion 
and synthetic ammonia was produced, demonstrating the practicability of 
fixing atmospheric nitrogen in this way under American conditions. 

In the meantime, the War Department had erected at Sheffield, Ala., : 
plant designated to produce, by a modified Haber process, 20,000 tone of 
ammonium nitrate a year. Difficulties were encountered in the successful 
operation of this large plant. During the summer of 1918, the Bureau f 
Soils and the War Department entered into an agreement by which the Arlington 
Dlant of this bureau war tc be urea under a cooperative arrangement between 



- 106 - 
the 3ui .• v of Ordnance and th: Bureau of Boils as a testing plant fcr work- 
ing out, on a small scale, some of the numerous ijroblems which had ariss:: 
in concoction with the operation of the lai-gc:- plant. Since that Time, the 
plant at Arlii: to:- 1 , has been run continuously with these objocto specifically 
in vic> and is operated night and day in the effort to work out experimen- 
tally some of the problems which make it impracti cable tc operate the large 
plant as it now stands. 



107 



THE FUHEAU OF CROP ESTIMATES 

The ?urxu of Crop Estimates of ths Department of Agriculture was largely 
relied upon as the statistical authority in connection with the tremendous 
csa >aigns of food production and food control and conservation that contrib- 
ute? 3" materially to the winning of ths war. Not only did it assist the 
other bureaus of the Department of Agriculture in carrying out the foe: 1 nro- 
duction program and related projects; but its services were used by tha other 
departments ar.d by the specially created agencies of the government , notaole 
among tber: being the Iced Administration; the War Trade Board, the War In- 
dustries r>carc , the Military Intelligence Office cf the War Department, the 
Council of hational Defense, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Tariff 
Oonnissior. 

Two days before the declaration of a state o:' war, the bureau of Crop 
Estimates had started a seed suppij inquiry with the purpose of locating 
areas of excess and deficient seed supply, in cider tc facilitate exchanges 
as a step tov^rd making sxare that the increascc* acreage program would not fail 
dr. any section fcr lac".: of necessary seed. Four days after the declaration 
■: the existence' cf a state of war, there was launched an agricultural 
workers' inquiry, tc ascertain the percentage of farm work done monthly, the 
number cf extra workers ordinarily used each month of the year, and the snp;a.y 
of hired labor at that time as compared with usual. Inside tne next weea. 
at the request of -one Council 



- 108 - 
crop schedule was begufa, to show the probable acreage of various crops 
compared with 1915 and the usual, the intention of fanners regarding the 
1917 crop, and the general farm outlook. Fertilizer schedules were under- 
taken in June, and, in July, a winter wheat inauiry, to show conditions at 
harvest, percentage of acreage harvested, and the indicated yield per acr p . 

During August, special inquiries and schedules were made to investigate 
reports of abnormal slaughter of milch cows, to determine the financial con- 
dition of farmers looking to fall planting, to ascertain food stocks on the 
farms, this being repeated in December, and to determine the probable acre- 
age to be devoted to wheat in 1913 together with seed requirements for it. 

Stimulsi ing Grain Produ c t ion 

In January, 1913, inquiries were made to ascertain the conditions of 
winter wheat and the probable acreage to be abandoned, and to locate sur- 
pluses of sound seed ccrn from which deficient areas could be supplied. A 
'special farm labor inquiry was made in February, to determine supply and de- 
mand. In March, an emergency live stock inquiry was made, to show the 
probable number of cattle to be fed and the number tc be grazed during the 
succeeding summer and winter, and the probability of feeding more swine than 
usual the succeeding winter. Another emergency inquiry that month was to 
ascertain, from present conditions and intentions of farmers, the probable 
acreage to be devoted to various food crops in 1913. This was followed in 
Kay by a special inquiry to determine shift in acreages due to war conditions 
and percentages of total acreage devoted to various crops. Aaotiier seed con- 
inquiry was conducted in Kay to determine the quality of the seed, percen- 
tage tested, per cent of germination and rate of seeding per acre. Three 
special inquiries were conducted in June, two of them applying to fertilizers 



- 109 - 
and the other to determine the binder t-:;ins requirements of the country. 

In July, an emergency liva stock survey was made to determine the 
Dumber en farms. Ir. August, a special inquiry was ms.de for the Food Ad- 
ministration to determine the uses mode of the wheat crop. The last special 
inquiry ma.de before the signing of the armistice was in October and was to 
determine the quantity of various crops fed to live stock each month. Since 
the signing of the armistice, there have been ma.de, - another live stock 
survey, an inquiry to determine the amount of commercial fertilizer and 
manure used for various crops, and 3- census of the location and typo of 
farm tractors. 

The truck crop reporting service, owing to war demands for more infor- 
mation of food production, was extended. A weekly True!; Crop News was pub- 
lished. A paid reporting service, to insure regularity of information from 
truck growing regions, was organised. This service, however, had not reached 
full development when the armistice was signed. 

Field agents and crop reporters in the drought-stricken areas assisted 
in making the Government seed grain loans in the fall of 1913. 
C rop S^etx st ics C-ave Great Servic e 

The Crop Recording and Abstracting Service furnished, for war pur- 
poses, agricultural statistics for the United States and foreign countries 
showing acreage, production, supplier, prices en farms and at markets, 
wages, number and value of live stock, exports and imports. Statements 
were prepared for the War Trade Boar; 1 and for the confidential use of 
American representatives abroad, giving production of crops in 1913 in each 
of the small political divisions of Germanv, Austria Hungary, Bulgaria, 
Rouffiania, Serbia, Greece ancl Russia. 



- 110 - 

The field forces of the bureau cooperated with various war agencies. 
From the beginning of the war, the field agents served, in a sense, as 
secret agents, reporting to the nearest United States Marshal any evi- 
dences of disloyalty, and, upon request of a United States Marshal, assist- 
ed in investigating charges of disloyalty. At the request of the Alien 
Property Custodian, the crop reporters reported to him property known to 
be held by aliens. 

The library of this bureau was very largely used bv representatives 
of the various war agencies. The number of persons using the library 
daily during the war showed an increase of 300 percent over the number 
using it prior to that time. 



Ill - 



THE BUREAU 0.' ENTOMOLOGY 

From the beginning of the war, the Bureau of Entomology '.vac able to 
be of service to the country, and especially to the military forces in 
ua.ny ways. The damage to stored grain and to grain in shipment soon came 
tc the front. Enormous quantities of grain and other materials were 
accumulated at the port of New York for shipment to Europe. The immense 
wprehouses at the Bush Terminal in Brooklyn were centers of accumulation 
of such material. The Bureau of Entomology was called upon for advice by 
the Y.'ar Department , and a laboratory was sta.tior.ed at this terminal where 
men experienced in the study of insect pests of this character were sta- 
tioned, where competent inspection was made , and where arrangements were 
made for the proper fumigation or other treatment of stored products 
found to be infested with insedts. 

Experts on the Pacific Coast and in the South were engaged in the 
inspection of many warehouses and. mill? where food supplies were stored 
and, throughout the entire period, large supplies ,-f food that were seing 
seriously affected by insects were located. The owners of such supplies 
were advised of the necessity of prompt action in order to avoid further 
losses, and were shown how to prevent losses in newly acquired supplies 
that were free from insects. 

The sane sort- of work v;j r done in regard to insects affecting 
lumber and stored woods:, implements. Early in 1917, a conference was 
held with representatives of zhs hrarch.es of the War and Navy Departments, 
Shipping Board, etc., which were responsible for the supplies drawn from 



- 132 - 
the forest resources of the country. The object of this conference was 
tc offer the services of the entomologists and to explain how they could 
help, through special investigations and advice, toward preventing serious 
losses of forest resources and damage by wood and- bark-boring beetles. 
Investigations of logging and aanufacturing operations in Mississippi to 
meet the demand for ash oars, handles and other supplies required by the 
war service showed, for example, that one company had lost by ash-wocd 
borer damage more than one million feet of ash logs through failure to pro- 
vide for prompt utilization after the trees were cut. Serious losses to 
seasoned ash end other hard wood sap material from "powder post," it was 
pointed out, could be prevented through the adoption of certain methods of 
management by the manufacturers and shippers with little or no additional 
cost. 

Protect inr Airpla ne "' r ood from Insects 

The urgent demand for spruce for the construction of airplanes led 
to an exceptional effort by the Spruce Production Eoard to utilize the 
great resources represented by the Sitka spruce of the Pacific Coast. It 
was soon realized that damage by wood-boring insects to the logs was a ser- 
ious matter and that the advice of the expert entomologist was essential to 
prevent losses of the best material. 

The problem was investigated by the entomologists and it was found 
that the prevention of the damage and loss was a matter of methods of man- 
agement in the logging operations and prompt utilization during a short 
period in the year when the insects were abundant. 

Early in the war and especially after the United States issued its 
declaration, the shortage o.f sugar made necessary an increase in the supply 



- 113 -- 
of supplemental sweets, and, since none of these could be increased more 
economically and more promptly than honey, and rince none of them has a 
higher value as food than honey, great efforts were made by the bee ex- 
pert? of the Bureau of Entomology to increase the honey production of the 
country. It was known that fc] en is nectar available annually to provide 
for a profitable increase of ten or more times the then present honey crop, 
provided beekeepers 'were instructed i:i matters like proper wintering and 
disease control. All apicultural investigational work, except that on bee 
diseases, war; discontinued and intensive extension work was begun. Special- 
ists were sent out, held meeting, addressed more than 25,000 beekeepers, 
visited the apiaries, and gave personal instruction, with the result that 
the honey crop was greatly increased. American exports of honey to allied 
countries have increased at least ten times over those of any period pre- 
vious to the war, and in the meantime the domestic consumption of honey has 
greatly increased. 

During the period of the war, the Bureau of Entomology maintained a 
thorough cooperation with the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army in 
the matter of experimental work on insect problems, Under the National 
Research Council's Committee on Medicine, a sub-committee on medical ento- 
mology was established, of which the chief of the Bureau of Entomology was 
made chairman. Under this committee, an enormous amount of experimental 
work was done with the different health problems in which insects are con- 
cerned. 

By r ea u _T eals De ath t_o_ Coot ies 

For example, every suggestion that came to the War Department in re- 
gard to the control of the body-louse : .- referred to the entomological 



- 114 - 
committee, or to the Bureau of Entomology, and these which were promising 
were experimentally tested, either at Washington, Minneapolis, or, for a 
time, at New Orleans, where a branch laboratory was instituted. At the* 
request of the Army War College and the medical department, as well as the 
chemical warfare service, tests were made of a new poisonous gas. This led 
to extensive experiments in cooperation with the Chemical Warfare Service 
leading to the possible utilization of gases used in warfare as fumigants 
for the control of insects and diseases. At the request of the Quarter- 
master's Corps, a complete investigation was made of all the details of the 
American process of laundering adopted by the Army, of the dry-cleaning pro- 
cesses and the hat-repair processes. In these investigations, the coopera- 
tion of the Bureau of Entomology with chemists of the Quartermaster's Corps 
resulted in the perfecting of the laundry processes so that it is now possi- 
ble to guarantee the complete control of vermin in the laundry, if the laun- 
dering is carried out according to the methods recommended, which are very 
slightly different from those in common use. It was found that the laundry 
machinery gave ample means for any sterilisation of clothing necessary. In 
the investigations of the dry-cleaning processes, it was found that the en- 
tire process gave complete control of vermin, but that gasoline treatment 
alone was not a perfect control. This discovery led to a long scries of 
important studies of the effect of various densities of oils on insect eggs. 
At the request of the Chemical VJarfare Service, various substances and 
impregnated clothes devised for the protection of soldiers against gas were 
tested as to their effects upon vermin. By a special request of the Electro- 
Therapeutic Branch of the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army, inves- 
tigations were made of a high frequency generator as a control moans against 



- 115 - 
the body louse, and as a result of these investigations sugger'-lon was 
made as to the possible application of high frequency electric treatment 
for the control of scabies aid other skin-infecting parasites. Cooperative 
investigations a] ong this line are about to be taken up. 

Among other problems investigated 7/ere the size of the meshes in mos- 
quito bar necessary for the protection of cantonment buildings from disease- 
carrying mosquitoes; reports on the insects likely to be found injurious to 
troops sent to Siberia; investigations o.' Lhe protective qualities against 
lice of furs dyed in various colors, and so on, 

A series of lectures dealing with important sanitary problems from the 
insect side were mimeographed and were sent to persons in the Army, Navy, 
Public Health Service, and in civil life who were preparing themselves for 
or were actively engaged in sanitary entomology. 

Errfc cnol ovists in Army Servic e 

Aside from this extensive cooperative research, entomologists were 
actually used in the Array, a number of them being given commissions while 
others acted as noncommissioned officers, assisting in the camp work on the 
control of insects that carry disease. The commissioning of expert ento- 
mologists for this kind of work was difficult, owing to the organization of 
the Army, but had the war continued, it is safe to say that more and more 
entomologists would have been employed in this important work, whether 
commissioned or not. The records made by a number of these men were ad- 
mirable and met with well-merited praise in Army circles. In great con- 
centration camps in several instances, entomologists were placed in entire 
charge of matters of mosquito and fly control, under medical command or 
under sanitary engineers. 



- 116 - 

I>i addition to this cooperation with the Army itself, the Bureau 
of Entomology cooperated with the Public Health Service, which had the ex- 
tremely important work in charge of the health control of areas immediate- 
ly surrounding the concentration camps, and held itself ready to assist in 
this work whenever called upon. 

One of the earliest matters taken up by the Congress of the United 
States after the declaration of war in April, 1917, was the consideration 
of appropriations for the stimulation o 'Top production and in this con- 
sideration, naturally, one of the points was the control of the principal 
insect enemf.es of staple crops. Prior to any congressional action, however, 
the Bureau of Entomology starced a country-wide reporting service en the 
conditions concerning these principal insect enemies, and engaged in ex- 
cellent cooperation not only all of the State entomologists, the entomolo- 
gists of all the agricultural experire.-t stations ard the teachers of en- 
tomology in the colleges, but also the demonstration agents, the statis- 
tical agents, both State and ?ed~ral, the weather observers, and the field 
men of the Forest Service. The idea was to bring about as far as possible 
almost a census of insect damage and prospects, co that the earliest possi- 
ble information should be gained as to any alarming increase in numbers 
of any given pest, that this information should be received at a common 
point, and distributed where it should be of the most good. The end 
sought was that repressive measures could be undertaken at the earliest 
possible moment in order to check the threatened loss. All reports re- 
ceived in this way were digested and distributed all through the growing 
seasons of 1917 and 1913 to the official entomologists of the country. 

Soon after this service was instituted, the funds for food crop 



- 117 - 
stimulation became available and trained man were employs** for demonstra- 
tion work to act in connection with the Fxtension Service of the Depart- 
ment and of the different State colleges of agriculture. These men were 
assigned to different localities and took care of the demonstration work 
against the principal pests cf staple crops all over the United States. 
Some of the.;; were specialists on the insects which attack truck crops: 
others in those ru'iidi damage field crops; others in those which affect or- 
chards, and so on. 'Sspecial attention was riven to the control cf grass- 
hoppers which damage grain and forage crops and to the sweet-potato weevil, 
an insect which bids fair to seriously affect the output of the South of 
this important vegetable. 

§3. ving Cro ps from Insects 
Aided, it is true, to e considerable extent by the winter of 1S17- 
1918 which, froia its unprecedented cola, hud n destructive effect upon many 
important insect pests, and to a lesser extent by the character cf the 
winter of 1915-1917, which also was a hard one for injurious insects, the 
economic entomologists, including the demonstrators, accomplished much. 
Owing to peculiar weather conditions i.i the early spring of 1917, certain 
insects net notably conspicuous before that time appeared in great abun- 
dance and added new problems to the production of certain crops. A notable 
example of such insects was the potato aphis, a species which previously 
had done almost no damage but which appeared in countless numbers through- 
out certain of the middle Y.'esturn States in the early summer of that year. 
Notable work was done in the destruction of grasshoppers by the poisoned 
bait method, and it is safe to say that many hundreds of thousands of dollars, 
perhaps millions of dollars, worth of food cropswere saved in this un- 
usually intensive work. A single instance among many may be given in more 



, 118 - 
detail. 

In the State of Kansas, the season cf 1913 was remarkable for one 
of the worst grasshopper outbreaks that has occurred in that- State since 
1913. The danger was recognized during the fall of 1217, and a grass- 
hopper-egg survey was instituted in cooperation between the State Agricul- 
tural College and the Bureau of Entomology. The results of this survey 
showed that, without doubt, a great hatching of grasshoppers was imminent , 
and extensive cooperative plans were immediately made. Winter meetings were 
held throughout many of the counties in the western one-third of the State, 
the farmers v/ere organizer" and plans matured for the purpose of purchasing 
bran in large quantities. Prompt distribution of poison was made as soon 
as the grasshoppers began to hatch. In eight counties of the State, 
36,000 pounds of white arsenic in 356 tons of wheat bran was used in the 
preparation of poison bait, which was distributed in an amount exceeding 
900 tons.. As a result cf this general application of the bait, it appears 
that some 113.000 acres of wheat were saved from destruction. Estimating 
fourteen bushels per acre?, which is considered a full crop in western 
Kansas, with wheat at two dollars per bushel, this represents a value of 
approximately ^3,000,000 saved in Kansas. This figure ir considered con- 
servative, according to tho officials of the State Agricultural College. 

In addition to the control v;ork on grasshoppers affecting wheat fields, 
it is estimated that 25,000 founds of poison bait was used throughout 
Kansas for the purpose of protecting alfalfa and sugar beets, and that 
100,000 acres of alfalfa in western Kansas was saved by this application. 
With alfalfa selling at '-20 per ton, this represented ^2, 500, 000. 



- 119 - 
Insecticid e Supp ly Important 

All this control work was constantly i.i danger of being greatly ham- 
pered by the derangement of the insecticide situation in this country, due 
to war activities. Not only was the importation of arsenicals stopped, but 
their production was greatly limited by the fact that the smelters, from 
which arsenical compounds are gained as by-products, were so rushed in the 
production of urgently needed metal that by-product industries were largely 
stopped, and by the further fact that more than s third of the actual pro- 
duction under these limitations was, toward the end, used by the Chemical 
Warfare Service. Nevertheless, the entomologists and the chemists and the 
insecticide manufacturers held frequent conferences as to how best to 
utilize the reduced quantity of. arsenical insecticides to insure the pro- 
tection of crops to the greatest extent possible, and it resulted that, 
although the amount of arsenic available was really insufficient to meet 
normal demands, yet by conservative use and better distribution the require- 
ments of the farmers, fruit-growers, gardeners and others were met. 

There might be mentioned another side activity entirely due to war 
conditions. The extensive use of castor oil in airplane work made it ne- 
cessary to grow the castor bean plant in great acreage in this country, 
since practically none wss to be had elsewhere, the large Mexican crop 
having been bought up and sent to Spain, probably tc secret German bases. 
Therefore, under Government contract, thousands of acres were planted to 
this crop in Florida and elsewhere. Though previously the castor-bean 
plant had not ~oeen known to be subject to serious insect attack, the plant- 
ing of these large areas was immediately followed by the increase of cer- 
tain injurious insects and by serious damage tc the growing plants by the 



- 120 - 
southern army worm and other specie?. Entomologists were at orce called 
in and, through rapid and able work much of the threatened damage was 
prevented. 

While all this other intensive work was going on, the Federal ento- 
mologists were making a great fight in Texas by which the pink boll^'O?* 
has apparently been absolutely wiped out in the districts in the United 
States infested last year. At the same time, there was developed a system 
ty which damage done by the cotton boll weevil car. be greatly reduced, 
which may be said to be the culmination cf the work cf many years. 



lal 



THE BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY 

The killing of noxious and predatory animals, f n .r removed as it may 
seem from military science, was a very potent fpctor in the successful pros- 
ecution of the war. The Bureau of Biological Survey of the Department of 
Agriculture, in carrying on this work, not only increased food production 
and decreased food waste to a very considerable extent, but contributed large- 
ly to the comfort and fighting morale of the soldiers and sailors. 

One of the most uncomfortable things for a soldier on duty in the 
trenches, or in camp, is rats. Not only do they pollute his food v/here they 
do not destroy it, but the mere sight and thought of the slinking, nasty 
beasts is enough to weaken any Army's morale. More than that, the rat carries 
with him, always, the spectre o* one of humanity's most deadly and loath- 
some diseases -- Bubonic plague. All during the European war, one of the 
most dreadful things in contemplation was that that plague might break out 
in the trenches and devastate Europe again as it did in the Middle Ages. 

When the United States became a party to the war, the Bureau of Bio- 
logical Survey had on its staff several men who were literally "death on 
rats." They had spent a great part of their lives in the service of the 
Government studying the habits of animals, including rats, and specializing 
on methods of effectively destroying the harmful kinds on a large scale. 

At the request of the Surgeon General's Office, one of thorn was com- 
missioned as major, assigned to the Sanitary Corps, and sent to France to 
investigate the rat situation and to devise means for controlling it, to be 
on hand, if the plague should appear in the trenches, prepared promptly to 



- 122 - 

prevent its spread. Five other experts of the Bureau of Eiological Survey, 
already in the Army, were detailed to assist him, and the six of them, 
attached to the Central Medical Laboratory of the American Expeditionary 
forces, remained on duty through the victory campaign and with the Army of 
occupation. 

Total ?easts for the Rats 

They were not left alone ax the front merely with the knowledge they 
had when they went over. In one of the buildings of the Department of Agri- 
culture, there was a room in which the "two and seventy stinks" that Samuel 
Taylor Coleridge says he counted in Cologne. Germany, would have been con- 
fused and lost in the multiplicity of malodors. It was full of rats of many 
kinds, and biologists and chemists were catering to them, finding out just 
what kinds of food they liked best and just how a little of the most effec- 
tive poisons could be best mixed with those foods. The results of these in- 
vestigations were sent to the rat killers, along with various other informa- 
tion that might be useful. 

But this was not more than a fair beginning of the rat control work 
done by the Bureau of Biological Survey for the Army and Navy. 

Requests for advice and assistance were received from the officers in 
charge of six Naval stations, and from a still larger number of quarter- 
master officers in charge of Army warehouses and supply stations. These 
were inspected by experts of the bureau, and recommendations were made as 
to the most effective methods for destroying the rodents and for rat- 
proofing where practicable. Five hundred copies of Farmers 1 Bulletin ho. 
895, on house rats and mice, prepared by this bureau, were supplied the 
Quartermaster Corps and distributed to officers in charge of storage depots. 



- 123 - 

The. results were 30 beneficial that requests were received from the 
Quartermaster Corps for the sane number of additional copies of the bulle- 
tin to send to the quartermasters in charge of the military stores of the 
American Expeditionary forces abroad. 

The following quotation from a letter by the officer in charge of the 
Bush Terminal warehouses, Brooklyn, indicates the value of this work: 

"When the writer was placed in charge of Bush Terminal 
it was realized that as .-tome of the warehouses were from 25 to 
30 years old, and as wherever one opened a door to go into e. 
warehouse he could hear the scurrying around of rats and mice 
and found signs of them on all sides, serious damage to subsis- 
tence supplies, such as flour, meal, corn, rice, oats, jiacon, 
and even clothing, would result unless an intelligent campaign 
were inaugurated. The campaign was inaugurated at a time when 
the warehouses were practically empty, and continued steadily 
to date when the warehouses are 90 per cent full. 

"The number of rats caught can not be accurately estimated, 
as the dead rats were dumped into kegs or garbage cans as caught, 
but in the estimation of the writer the number would be somewhere 
between 35,000 and 50,000 rats, and the damage dor.e to Government 
stores by rats in thirteen months operation has not exceeded 
$50 as an outside estimate. 

"In the estimation of the Officer in Charge of Storage, the 
campaign against rats conducted under your advice and super- 
vision has been entirely successful, and today the catch does not 
average a dozen rats a day, ana nowhere in the warehouses is 
there a sign of the presence of rats in any quantity." 

Y r ar on Animal. Enemies to Food 

The killing of predatory animals and of rodents other than rats, 
while not so directly connected with the Army in France, was not less effec- 
tive in increasing and conserving the food supply for the Armies and 
civilian populations of the nations engaged in the war against Germany. 

Each year predatory animals in the United States were killing more 
than 320,000,000 worth of live stock. Outdoor rodents, also, were de- 
stroying not less than i,?150 ,000 ,000 worth of cultivated crops and at least 
another $150,000,000 worth of forage in the stock raising States every 



- 134 - 
jrear. On top cf that, house rat" and mr.co wore known tc dss+roy yearly 
about $200,000,000 worth of food sud other products on farms, at nil 
in commercial storage hcuses. and elsewhere. 

The need of an intensified campaign again.-;'; predatory and other 
destructive mammals mas obvious. 

In its war campaign for the destruction of predatory animals and in- 
jurious rodents, the bureau concentrated its efforts about the stock-raising 

farming centers, in order that the err nclitures of funds available should 
produce the greatest possible saving of supplies. Cooperation with the State 
extension services and county agents, as well as with stockmen and farmers, was 
greatly enlarged. The v/ork done by the bureau in tne.se campaigns was so effec- 
tive that, in addition to the temporary personal services of more than 100,000 
cooperating farmers and stockmen, the States, counties, and individuals con- 
tributed funds amounting to mere than £600,000 during the calendar year 1913 
for cooperative work, mainly under the immediate direction of this bureau. 

The campaign to destroy predatory animals, such as wolves, coyotes, moun- 
tain lions, and bobcats, in Montana, Idaho, Washingtcn, Oregon, California, 
Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, Colorado, Arizona, Nsw fckxico, and Texas, 
resulted between April 1, 1917, and December 31, 1918, in the Killing of 
1,266 wolves, 46,235 coyotes, 171 mountain lions, and 5,852 wild oats through 
trapping and hunting, while extended poisoning killed tens cf thousands of 
coyotes on important sheep ranches and lambing grounds, practically freeing 
many large range areas from losses of live stock through these pets. 

The destruction of these stock-killing animals has meant a continuous 
saving for market of a great number cf cat tie., horses, sheep, goats, swine, 
and poultry, with a direct increase in Ine meat, hide, and wool output valued 
at not less than §8,000,000. 



, -■"'- 



•■ X.-CO - 

Co op era- ion C-ivei tc St at os 

In this work the bureau had tv* hearty cooperation of State councils 
of defense, State live-stock coimaisoions, stockmen's associations, and in- 
dividual stock growers. 

Campaigns against native rodents, such as prairie-dogs, ground squirrels, 
pocket gophers, and jack rabbits, were mainly conducted in cooperation with 
the States Relations Service and the extension services of the agricultural 
colleges of North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, 
New Mexico, and Arizona, with the State and county commissioners of horti- 
culture of California, the State Rabies Commission of Nevada, and the State 
councils of defense of Mew Mexico and Arizona. 

More than 20,000,000 acres of agricultural and range lands were treated 
vith poison baits to destroy these rodent poets, and reports show a saving 
during the crop season of 1918 of a total of more than 313,500,000. 

The cooperating States, counties, farmers, and stockmen's organizations 
expended, mainly under the direction of the bureau, more than $750,000 during 
the fiscal year 1918. 

With the beginning of the war, the bureau increased its educational 
campaign concerning the losses occasioned by house rats, the need for taking 
active steps to destroy them, and the need for protecting products from their 
depredations. Several States, notably Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and 
Indiana, cooperated in organized State-wide campaigns for rat destruction, 
and in addition there were many local campaigns in various parts of the 
c ount ry. 



- 12s 



I-HE BUREAU 07 PUBLIC ROADS 

When the United State; became a party to the world war, faced with the 
necessity for rapid nobili.zation of men and materials, one of the serious 
limiting factors was the lack of improved roads adjacent to concentration 
points. Much military road building was ^mediately necessary. There was 
urgent need, in order to economize in man power, construction materials and 
money, that general road construction work the country over be suspended ex- 
cept in cases where the improvement would be of material aid to the military 
program. But, while it was necessary that work be suspended on many roads the 
improvement of which would have been, under ordinary circumstances, highly de- 
sirable, construction was equally necessary on many roads where, under peace 
conditions, it could have ceen deferred without hardship. The problem of what 
roads should be improved and where, in the general dearth, materials for such 
improvement were to be found was a serious one. 

The three big road problems, then, were these: To build the necessary 
roads at and around cantonments and around concentration points for war ma- 
terials; to improve such roads as wore necessary to free movement from pro- 
duction points, and to curtail general road building to the end that labor, 
money, materials and machinery might be conserved. 

The organization and experience of the Bureau of Public Roads in the 
United States Departmrnx of Agriculture were immediately directed toward meet- 
ing the military needs of the Government. Later, on the suggestion of the 
Secretary of Agriculture, the United States Highways Council was formed, 
coordinating the activities of the Department of Agriculture, the War Depart- 



- 127 - 

ment, the Director General of Railroads, the Fuel Administration, the War 
Industries Board, the Employment Service of the Department of Labor, and the 
Capitol Issues Committee, These two agencies — the Bureau of Public Roads 
and the United States Highways Council — were charged with the carrying out 
of the Government's policy of road building during the period of the war. The 
two worked in close cooperation, the chief of the Bureau of Public Roads 
serving as chairman of the Highways Council- In all of the work of both cf 
these agencies, close cooperation was mair+ained with the State Highways De- 
partments. 

Roadwa -r? Rushed to Cantonment s 

The first big war task undertaken directly by the Bureau of Public Roads 
was the construction of necessary roadways in the sixteen National Army can- 
tonments and in one guard mobilization camp. The total construction planned 
and carried out in these camps aggregated several hundred miles and included 
practically all of the common types of construction from sand clay to con- 
crete roads. 

Eighteen engineers were detailed by the Bureau of Publxc Roads for 

periods ranging from three months to more than a year, to prepare plans and 

superintend the construction of roads at the following camps: 

Camp Devens, Aye'r, Massachusetts. 
Camp Upton, Yaphank, Long Island." 
Camp Dix," Wrights town, New Jersey. 
Camp fobade," Admiral, Maryland. 
Camp Lee, Petersburg, Virginia. 
Camp Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina. 
Camp Gordon, Chamblee, Georgia. 
Camp Sherman, Chillicothe, Ohio. 
Camp Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky. 
Camp Custer, Battle Creek. Michigan. 
Camp Grant. Rockford, Illinois. 
Camp Pike, Lixtie Rock, Arkansas. 
Camp Dodge, Des L: o5jr.es, Iowa. 
Camp Funston. Forb Riley, Kansas. 
Camp Travers, San Antonio, Texas. 
Camp Lewis, American Lake, Washington. 
Camp McClellan, Aniston, Alabama. 



- 123 - 
Besides the necessary roads in and around the camps, it was necessary 

in most coses to construct or rebuild suitable roads from the camps to the 
cities on which they depended for supplies and equipment. Such reads were con- 
structed under the direction of the Bureau of Public Roads and in cooperation 
with the State Highways Departments under the Federal-Aid Road Act, as follows: 
Alexandria, L ouisiana, to Camp Beauregard; Little Rock, Ark. to Camp Pike; 
Columbia, S. C. , to Camp .Jackson; Spartanburg, South Carolina, to Camp V/ads- 
worth; Creenvillc, S. C. , to Camp Sevier; and Aniston, Ala. to Camp McClellan. 
Engineering assistance was given in the construction of roads from Alexandria, 
Va. , to Camp Humphreys and from Petersburg, Va. , to Camp Lee. 
Road Bureau Aids S hipbuilders 

In both the shipbuilding program and the war emergency housing program, 
the assistance of the Bureau of Public Roads was requires. One highway en- 
gineer was detailed to assist the Emergency Fleet Corporation in planning roads 
and streets in connection with shipyard developments. He gave his ur.tire time 
to this work from March 5, 1918, until after the signing of the armistice. 
Another engineer was loaned to the United Static Housing Corporation as con- 
sulting engineer en roads zno. streets necessary in connection with housing de- 
velopments. 

The mapping of roads was not less necessayy to the military program than 
the construction of roads. The Bureau of Fublic Roads made complete and de- 
tailed highway maps, utilizing as far as practicable the topographical sheets 
of the United States Geological Survey, covering all. of karyland oast of the 
meridian passing through V/ashington, all of the coast counties of New Jersey 
and all of Florida south of Jacksonville. Thea. maps were made for the use 
of the Engineering Corps of the Army. 



- 129 - 

j.n addition to these, detailed highway maps, the principal highways in 
a zone extending from Boston to Newport News through New York and Washington 
were plotted on topographical sheets for the use of the Geological Survey in 
the preparation of aeroplane maps. 

Detailed route maps were prepared, covering Amy truck route from Detroit 
to Baltimore, the work being done in cooperation with the United States Geo- 
logical Survey and the Engineeriig Corps of the Army, 

Cooperation was maintained with the Shipping Board in other ways than the 
building of roads. In designing reenforced concrete ships, the Bureau of Public 
Roads was called on to make sever?! series of tests in oder to obtain informa- 
tion necessary to insure the safety of concrete ship designs. 

Concrete ship construction was substantially a new thing. It was uncertain 
whether the steel used for reenforcing was protected by the concrete against 
the action of salt water. To determine this point, the 3ureauof Public Roads 
made tests with bars protected with various kinds of paint coatings and metal 
coatings, both to determine the protection afforded and the effect of the coat- 
ings on the bond strength. 

Another question that had to be determined in connection with concrete 
ship building was that of "shear stresses." The term means, in mechanical lan- 
guage, a strain or change of shape of an elastic tody resulting from applied 
forces which cause or tend to cause two contiguous parts of the body to slide 
relatively to each other and in a directionpnxallel to the plane cf contact. 
In the design of a concrete ship the shear stresses are very high and, in order 
to use as little steel and concrete as possible, it was necessary to use much 
more unit stress in shear than in the ordinary reenforced concrete construction. 
No test results were available to indicate what would be a safe unit stress 



- 130- 
with the exceedingly rich mixture of concrete used in ships. It was necessary, 
therefore, to make a number of beam tests to determine this point. This work 
was done by the Bureau of Public Roads. 

Show How to Pour Concrete Ships 

Still another point in connection with the building of concrete ships 
worked out by the Bureau of Public Roads was that of a satisfactory pouring 
method for concrete. Because of the extremely thin walls containing a large 
part of the reer.forcing steel, it was necessary to pour the concrete so that it 
would entirely surround the steel in such a way as to form smooth surfaces 
and yet to be of dry enough consistency to produce the densest possible con- 
crete. A specimen resembling the shell of a concrete vessel was made up and 
the concrete was poured into it, after which the form was rapidly vibrated by 
hammering the sides. The first method of pouring tried out by the Bureau of 
Public Roads was a complete success, and no further experiments were necessary. 

Assistance was given to the Bureau of Standards in pouring concrete into 
a large design to resemble a concrete bulkhead for use in constructing water- 
tight compartments in steel vessels. During the pouring, measurements were 
taken of the pressure exerted by the concrete against the forms, using the soil 
pressure sills designed by the Bureau of Public Roads. 

In concrete ship construction, there are many places where the concrete 
can not be poured continuously and it becomes necessary to join, with as 
strong a bond as possible, the newly poured soft concrete to the hardened 
surfaces. The Bureau of Public Roads worked out and tested a number of dif- 
ferent methods for accomplishing this. 

In connection with tests made for the Shipping Board at its laboratories, 
it was necessary to have instruments that would register exceedingly minute 



- 131 - 
changes in length. At the request of the Shipping Board . the Bureau of 
Public Roads constructed such test instruments. 

Considerable work was done by the Bureau of Public Roads in the testing 
of high explosives. At the request of the Frankfort Arsenal, Philadelphia, a 
device was worked out for testing the power of explosives with the idea of ob- 
taining an autographic record of the force and speed. The bureau's impact 
machine was borrowed by the American University for research work in connection 
with high explosives. Impact machines of the type employed by the bureau are 
now used in practically ail of the arsenals throughout the country in their 
routine investigations of explosive materials. 

During the first fourteen months of participation of this country in the 
world war, the Bureau of Public Roads worked independently of any interdepart- 
mental agency. The United States Highways Council was not formed until June 8, 
1918. A short time prior to that date, the Secretary of Agriculture suggested 
the formation of such a council and asked that appointments to it be made bj? 
the Secretary of War, the Director General of Railroads, the Fuel Administrator, 
and the Chairman of the War Industries Board, these representatives to serve 
jointly in handling street and highway problems during the period of the war. 
Such representatives were appointed and organized on June 8 by electing as 
chairman of the council the chief of the Bureau of Public Reads. 

Highways Council Averts Delays 

The council was formed primarily to prevent the long delays, financial 
losses and uncertainty incident to the method of taking up each highway problem 
in its turn with the separate Government agencies, and to utilize the organiza- 
tions of 48 State Highway Departments with their trained personnel and knowl- 
edge of local conditions as a medium through which the highway needs of the 



- 132 m • 

country were to be brought to the attention of the Federal Government. It 
provided a single agency in the nature of a clearing house where all highway 
projects calling for Government action could te considered and acted upon. 
It took cognizance of questions of finance, of materials, of transportation 
and of the necessity and desirability of a project. 

At the time of the formation of the Highways Council, there were no in- 
dications of an early termination of the war. The Government was going for- 
ward with its plans for such a complete m-- ilization of resources as would 
be adequate for a war continuing through a period of years. In this program, 
a coordinated highways policy was of the highest importance. 

The work was that of harmonizing and directing ail Government efforts 
and interests to a common end. The War Department was interested in roads 
connecting cantonments and posts with cities and shipping points, in any 
through-highways over which government truck trains might be transported, 
and in any highways whinh might affect any of the numerous war activities of 
the Nation. > 

The Railroad Administration,, controlling all of the rail transportation 
facilities, was in position to exercise a vital influence on the construction 
and upkeep of roads, as vast quantities of various road building materials 
were transported by rail. It was desirable to meet these transportation needs 
in a selective manner, so that urgent work might be done and less important, 
work be postponed. 

The Fuel Administration had charge of many materials that enter into 
road-building, including fluid oils, road oils, asphalts, and tars. Manu- 
facturers delivered these for road-building materials only on permit issued 
by the Fuel Administration. 



- 133 - 

Other materials necessary for road building, such rs cement, crushed 
store, gravel, sand, structural and reenforcing steel, were controlled by the 
TTar Industries Board which had the power to establish priorities, allocate 
materials and fix prices. 

The Capital Issues Committee was required to pass upon ail road issues 
involving i)100,000 or more. 

The Department of Agriculture, charged with administering the Federal -Aid 
Road Act and spending many millions of dollars a year in road construction, was 
the chief highways agency of the Government but was subjected under war condi- 
tions to the necessity of deferring to national needs that might be more press- 
ing than those of road building. 

Selecting Most Imperative YJor'.; 

All of these agencies were brought together and coordinated in the United 
States Highways Council and, had the war continued for as long a period as 
was at that time generally expected, this council would have been an indispen- 
sable aid to the Nation's war program. 

During the few months that it was operative, a great deal was accomplished. 
Starting out with the policy that all highway, street, culvert and bridg9 con- 
struction and maintenance projects should first be submitted for approval to 
the United States Highways Council through the appropriate State Highway De- 
partment, a system was evolved which secured the essential construction and 
held the non-essential at a minimum. Construction was favored by the council 
only when it was clearly established that maintenance was no longer possible 
except at prohibitive costs. Highways and streets of military value were 
placed first in order, then highways and streets of national economic value, 
then unfinished contracts involving obligations which could not be disturbed 
without serious consequences and, finally, streets and highways which, while 



- 134 - 

aot of military or economic importance, were of such extreme local importance 

as to cause serious hardships if their construction were postponed. " The State 

Highway Departments were requested to give most careful consideration to each 

application on its merits and to exercise the power of disapproval freely. The 

I council itself considered only such projects as came to it with the approval of 

the State Highway Departments. 

Pas3 on Projects Involving: Millions 

Applications for approval, including those which had been submitted to the 

Office of Public Roads prior to the establishment of the Council, reached a total 

of 7,307. A quantitative table dealing with the materials, transportation, and 

funds involved and showing such proportion as was defin:te?.y approved follows: 

Item Unit Requested Approved 

^Capital issued collars 049,538,075 § 7,334,821 

Road oil gallon 68,280,401 44,269,825 

Tar gallon 56,608,401 53,533,441 

Asphalt tons 190,207 159,475 

Cement bbls. 5,657,390 2,139,769 

Brick Ms. 109,125 52,239 

Steel, structural lbs. 10,663,250 694,320 

Steel, reenforcing lbs. 22,281,275 3,231,301 

Crushed stone tons 3,639,819 1,827,795 

Gravel tons 1,204,552 432,707 

Sand and screenings tons 2,216,481 932,479 

Slag tons 520,152 250,428 

Corrugated iron culverts lin. ft. 107,815 23,704 

Piling Timber lin. ft. 164,102 43,588 

Pipe, Vit. Drain lin. ft. 2,165,419 99,699 

Pipe, cast iron drain lin. ft. 47,052 43,. -40 

Lumber ft. (B.li.) 5,530,196 1,651,635 

Granite Blocks blocks 1,420,500 156,500 

Miscellaneous tons 123,206 49,513 

Cars, open top cars 55,059 26,361 

Cars, box cars 8,543 3,376 

Cars, flat cars 3,705 



605 



^Includes applications acted on by the Bureau of Public Roads prior to formal or- 
ganization of the United States Highways Council, requested 028,748,084, approved 
$3,114,381. The Capital Issues Committee has jurisdiction and the Council served 
merely as an aid to the committee. 



Diverting Resources for Greatest I T eeds 

The approval of the Council obtained for highway purposes the equivalent 
of 99,000.000 gallons of road oils and tars and 159,475 tons of asphalts at 
a time when serious doubt existed as to whether any substantial amount of 
bituminous material could be made available for street and highway purposes. 
On other items, constructive help was given to highways in securing vast 
amounts of material which might otherwise have been difficult to obtain. No 
action by the Council restricted in the slightest degree the opportunities of 
shippers to obtain cars from local railrcad conpanies. The requests, therefore, 
that came to the Council for cars were for constructive aid rather than for 
approval. Through the activities of the Council, more than 30,000 cars were 
obtained for highway purposes. This number constitutes a distinct net gain to 
highway needs over and above the supply which the local railroads were able to 
furnish of their own accord. 

The restriction of highway work undoubtedly served to provide for the 
most worthy projects such materials as were available and to bring about on 
the part of States, cities and counties a much more thorough sifting of the 
various projects than would otherwise have been possible. Had the war con- 
tinued, this conservative and selective consideration would have become more 
and more useful and necessarv. 



136 - 



TIiE STATES RELATIONS SERVICE 

■When the European war began, the United States had just entered upon the 
development of a comprehensive national system of extension work in agriculture 
and home economics. It involved not only the practical training of farmers 
and their families, but their organization for individual and community action 
in the improvement of agricultural practice and the economic and social condi- 
tions of rural homes and communities. It combined the scientific and investi- 
gational forces of the United States Department of Agriculture and the State 
agricultural colleges mth the practical knowledge and experience of the multi- 
tude of farm men and women, organized to conduct demonstrations on their own 
farms and to take leadership in helpful movements in their own communities. 

One of the most important and efficient features of the system, is that 
commonly referred to as the county agent and home demonstration a$ent work. 
Its ultimate object, as embodied in the agricultural extension act, was to 
place in every agricultural county in the United States an agricultural expert, 
known as the county agent, to act as advisor and demonstrator to farmers, and 
a woman, known as the home demonstration agent, to act as expert advisor to 
the housewives in matters of domestic science and household economy. It is 
one of the most notable departures ever made in agriculture ond has proved one 
of the most efficacious. It brings the accumulated knowledge of agricultural 
and domestic scientists directly to the farm families of the country in their 
fields and homes, and proves it in actual farm and household operations. 

The entry of the United States into the war found the extension system 
partly organized in all of the States and in about half of the counties. 



- 137 - 

immediately it was seen that both, for the benefit of the farm people and for the 
promotion of the general welfare, it was highly desirable thai every agricultural 
;ounty should have this organization as soon as possible. It was evident that in 
;his way both the Government and the people would have the best means of bringing 
pibout the agricultural production and the food conservation required by war condi- 
tions. The Government would also be kept informed regarding the attitude and 
ieeds of the farm people through the county and home demonstration agents, and 
could enlist their sympathy and support in such patriotic endeavors as liberty 
Loan, Red Cross, and other campaigns by which information regarding war aims and 
requirements were to be disseminated and the means for successful prosecution of 
the war secured. 

Sw-alling; Army of Field Workers 
The Secretary of Agriculture recommended and Congress provided means for the 
.-apid expansion of the extension system, with the result that between July 1, 1917, 
-.nd July 1, 1913, the number of counties with men ager.t3 increased from 1,434 to 
2,435; the number of counties with women agent?, from 537 to 1,715; and the total 
number of persons engaged in extension work, from 4,100 to over 7,000. The number 
of employees cooperatively employed by the Department of Agriculture; the State 
colleges of agriculture, and local and county authorities increased from 2,500 tc 
•3,200 during the same period. 

The first problem that these agents had to undertake was to organize the 
farmers, in order to reach them effectively and in order that the farmers might 
effectively solve their ov,ti problems. During the year the agents attempted to 
organize as many people as possible to undertake some type of work V7*ri'c> wcuitf 
enable them to increase the food production, conserve the supply of;fruxts : 
vegetables, and meats, and to become more efficient in the phases of agricultural 



- 133 - 
production in which they were accustomed to engage. 

In many cases, the county or home demonstration agents found in the coun- 
ties in which they were placed some organization which indicated a demand for 
their services. The first activities of the agents in the counties were con- 
nected with the development of existing clubs or the organization of new farm 
bureaus, county councils of agriculture, or other associations to deal with 
rural life problems. All together, there were organized over 15.000 farmers' 
commun5.ty clubs among men, 30,000 among women, and 50 ,000. among the boys and 
girls. The county agents during the year addressed over 250,000 gatherings and 
reached over 8,000,000 individuals. Through the work of the home demonstration 
agents, 6,000,000 women learned of the Government's desire for increased pro- 
duction and conservation, and 1,250,000 boys and girls were enrolled in the 
various lines of club activities. 

Northern Workers Solve Corn Problem 

One of the most serious problems confronting the extension agents in the 
Northern States during the war was the corn situation in many States in the 
spring of 1918. On account of early frost the preceding autumn, there was a 
large deficiency in corn fit for seed, while the war called for an increased 
production. It immediately became the function of the county agents to locate 
seed corn of high germination adaptable to the locality where it was to be 
planted, and to see to its proper distribution among the farmers. This problem 
called for organized effort. By intensive organization and the establishment 
of numerous testing stations, Iowa was able to care for its seed corn problem 
within the State, but Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio were forced to bring large 
quantities of seed corn from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. The 
Seed Stock Committee of the Department of Agriculture assisted in the location 



- 139 - 

and distribution of this ?ee<3; ^ind the county agents, both at the point of 

supply and at the point of distribution, aided in attending to the details of 

gathering the seed together and distributing it. The agents recorded that 
...... 

ithey made available to 326,662 farmers a sufficient supply of seed to plant 
3,500 : 000 acres, and through their testing campaign 550,000 farmers tested 
their seed for germination, so that sufficient seed was provided to plant a 
total of 10,500,000 acres. In connection with their work tc increase the pro- 
duction of corn, the agents influenced the farmers to increase their acreage of 
ensilage corn and thereby were able to increase the production of live stock. 

The next crop of importance was wheat. The Department of Agriculture, in 
cooperation with the Food Administration, carefully determined the food needs, 
both at home and abroad, and suggested the needed acreage for each State. With- 
in the States, intensive campaigns were carried on with the farmers, largely 
through the county agents, who not only kept the farmers informed as to what the 
needs of the country were, but assisted them in securing the proper supply of 
seed wheat and aided those farmers who had never grown wheat before in cultiva- 
tion and harvesting. The activities of the agents aided in bringing about the 
planting of 4,100,000 additional acres, with an increased production of 45,000,- 
000 bushels. A further additional 2,500,000 acres of winter wheat was planted 
in the fall of 1918 as a. result of the wheat production campaign. 

Another important feature of the work carried on by the county agents in 
the campaign for increased crop production war the treatment of oats for smut. 
Nearly 100,000 farmers, representing an oat acreage of 1,S00,000 acres, were in- 
fluenced to treat their seed oat.3. The agents also assisted the farmers in in- 
creasing their acreage of rye, barley, potatoes; buckwheat and other minor 
crops. Another important feature of their campaign was the establishment of 



- 140 - 

aome and community gardens. They also encouraged, to a United eitent, the 
... . 

panning and drying of fruits and vegetables. 

In the earapaign conducted in 300 counties, the increased n^mb^r ^^ live 
stock involved was 128,000 head of cattle, 940,000 head of hogs, 332,000 head of 
isheep, and 1,050,000 fowls. Over 1,000,000 animals were treated as the result 
of the activities of the extension agents. The agents were able to bring about.. 
the introduction into these communities of a large number of purebred live stock, 
an- 4 , took an active part in the campaign to increase the production of hogs. 

Sou thern Workers \'. T in Crop Diversit" 

The extension organizations in the South very efficiently met the problem 
of sustaining the production of food and feed in 1917 in the face of high- 
priced cotton. As a result of their very complete campaign, the acreage of 
cotton was actually reduced, and the acreage of corn, wheat, oacs , hay, potatoes, 
sweet potatoes, and in fact all other crops, was increased. In the spring of 
1918 the same thing was repeated except that the high price of cotton forced a 
slight increase in the cotton acreage. The acreage in corn was practically 
sustained, while the acreage of wheat, oats, ry3, hay, potatoes, sweet potatoes, 
rice, peanuts, grain sorghums, velvet Deans, and oxher food and feed crops was 
increased. In the fall of 193.8, dun to the campaign for more wheat, the seed- 
ing of wheat for the harvest of 191? was increased. 

The extension organization in the South conducted campaigns fcr an in- 
creased production of live stock, resulting in an increase of 6 per cent in the 
number of hogs, 3 per cent in the number of milch cows, 5 per cent in the number 
of sheep, and 5 per cent in the number of other cattle, the increase in hog 
production being the highest in Mississippi and Tennessee, each of Lidiul< shows 
a gain of 20 per cent over the year 1917. 



- 141 - 

The work among the men on th" f^.rm •wan primarily to encour'-^e ro^^e 
abundant production. The campaign carried on among the women was not only 
for increased production but for conservation of those products which had 
formerly been wasted. In the South, where the work among the women had been 
carried on the longest, the reports of the agents indicate that 65,000,000 
containers of vegetables, fruits, and fruit products, and 130,000 containers 
of meat and fish were put up, 9,000,000 pounds of dried vegetables and fruiLs 
stored, and 1,000,000 gallons of vegetables brined. In addition, 16,000,000 
pounds of butter and 1,000,000 pounds of cottage cheese were made under the 
ag9nts' direction. 

The women agents carried the Issson of wheat, meat, sugar, end fat con- 
servation to every family represented and reached so large a number of people 
that they materially assisted the Food Administration and other forces in 
putting many States and counties on a non-wheat basis during the spring of 
1918. Six hundred and fifty-nine community demonstration kitchens were or- 
ganized under their supervision and used for the purpose of community in- 
struction. They organised and built 847 community canneries and 131 com- 
munity drying centers. They assisted in the organization and establishment 
of 13 curb markets in cities where city women could buy direct from farmers 
and farm women fruits and vegetables brought in from the country. They or- 
ganized 173 egg circles among farm women and girls, with the result that 
575,593 dozen eggs were marketed cooperative.!}, 200,000 dozen eggs were sold 
through individuals belonging to these associations, and over 1,000,000 
pounds of poultry were marketed. They secured the establishment of 137 rest 
rooms for women in towns. 



~ 142 - 
Reach H or^ t han 3 , 000,000 Women 

In the Northern and Western Spates, over 3,000,000 women were reached 
through training classes, talKs, demonstrations, and visits to hones, and 
interested in various phases of food production, utilization and preserva- 
tion, the conservation of clothing and fuel, and various phases of health 
and child care. 

Under the immediate supervision of the agents, 140,000 gardens were 
grown, 1,700,000 fowls were cared for, 4,000,000 pounds of butter, and 7,000,- 
000 pounds of pork were produced, 110 community kitchens and 450 canning 
kitchens were established and 300,000 families influenced in food saving, 
13,000,000 quarts of fruit and 9,000,000 quarts of vegetables were canned, 
2,000,000 quarts of vegetables brined, 270,000 pounds of meat and 50,000 
pounds of fish canned, 350,000 pounds of fruit dried, and 805,000 pounds of 
vegetables and 500,000 dozen eggs preserved. 

Not only the adults, but the boys and girls as well, were interested 
in the problems of food production and conservation. All together, 1,250,- 
000 boys and girls undertook definite - work in the production and conservation 
of agricultural products under the agents' supervision. Some of the results 
that the boys and girls organized in club work reported in the N orth and 
West were the production of *vs* 300,000 bushels of corn, 650,000 bushels of 
potatoes, 3,000,000 square rods cf home gardens- , canning of 3,500,000 quarts 
of vegetables, making of 350,000 jars of jelly, the production of 440,000 
chickens, 170,000 dozen eggs, 900,000 pounds of beef, and 6,200,000 pounds 
of pork. 

In the Southern States the boys' club work is handled by the county 
agents, while the girls' work recorded above is included in the work of the 



- 143 - 
home demonstration agents for woaien and girls. The boys' work in the South 
was responsible for the production cf 523,050 bushels of corn. 40,000 bu- 
shels of peanuts, 30,000 bushels of potatoes, 6,333 bushels of grain sor- 
ghums, 12,857 bushels of wheat. 496 bushels of beans, 1,668,907 pounds of 
cotton, 224,517 pounds of beef, 1 5 728,092 pounds cf pork sold for the market 
and 2,810,897 pounds of hogs retained for breeding purposes. The poultry 
cyork is reported under the girls' work. The total market value of products 
of the boys' clubs in the South was OH, 803, 385- 32, These boys borrowed 
from banks 0536,402 for the purchase of animals to engage in club work. 

Both the home demonstration agents and the county agents encouraged the 
slanting of war gardens., and never before had the farmers been able to supply 
sheir food needs so adequately from home gardens. In addition, the county 
igents were very influential in establishing local labor exchanges, which en- 
ibled the farmers readily to find such help as was available in the community 
.n case cf need. 

Taking the Message to the Family 

The achievements indicated above were the results of the direct contact 
if the agent with the farmer or a member of his family. Although there were- 
iany agencies at wsrk influencing the farmer, probably none reached him as 
ffectively and as quickly as the Department of Agriculture and the State 
olleges of agriculture did through the county agent and home demonstration 
gent. Although the labor supply available to the farmer was considerably 
ecreased, where his sons and hired men went into the Army and his daughters 
ent into the war industries, hP increased his total acreage in crops from 
33,000,000 in 1916 to 334,000,000 in 1917, and to 355,000,000 in 1918. The 
umber of milch cows was increased from 22,895,000 in 1917 to 23,470,000 in 



- 144 - 
1919, the number of other c?ttle from 41,690,000 to 44,400,000, the number 
of swine from 67,500,000 to 76,000,600, and the number of sheep from 4-7,616,- 
000 to 49,853,00. 

As soon as the United States- entered the war, the Office of Experiment 
Stations called specific attention to the questions which were of wartime im- 
portance and assisted in organizing cooperations among the stations for study- 
ing these problems. It also worked in close association with the agricultural 
department of the N ational Research Council. A register was prepared of 
agricultural specialists competent for experiment station work, which assisted 
the stations in keeping the ranks of their workers- filled. 

The work of the Office of Experiment Stations and the State institutions 
associated with it was not so evident from what they did during the wsr as in 
the accumulated results of their experimental and investigational work in the 
past. The results of their activities supplied information to the farmers 
and to the extension workers with reference to such subjects as making the 
most advantageous use of soil and cultivation, economizing the resources of 
water and soil, making the best use of available fertilizing material, com- 
bating disease and insect pests, practices to protect agricultural products 
against lr -,s in transit and storage, the use of substitutes in food and feed, 
economizing human labor and making it more highly productive by making it 
more intelligent and resourceful, and in general giving mail a larger ability 
to utilize the forces of nature, based on the knowledge obtained from investi- 
gational and research work. 

The problem of the insular stations connected with the Office of Experiment 
Stations was to increase the food production on the islands and in Alaska. 
Before the war, the people served by the insular stations were large importers 



- 145 - 
of food producto, the value cf 'which eached ^30 ,000 , cOt\ annually. The use 
of many coastwise vessels for transport service to Europe reduced the available 
tonnage of food shipments and made it necessary for Alaska, Hawaii, Porto Rico, 
and Guam to make an effort to feed themselves. The efforts of the people under 
the guidance of the insular stations were- highly successful and enabled them, 
in a large way, to solve their food problem. 

What Was Done on Our Islands 

To cite some typical examples, under ordinary conditions, Porto Rico was 
importing 0800,000 worth of beans annually, but, under the stimulus of xiar, it 
has been able not only to produce the entire amount for home consumption but 
a considerable surplus available for export. In the Tanana and i.antanuska 
Valleys in Alaska, the experiment station workers have been able to increase 
the production of potatoes, vegetables, and root crops in sufficient quantity 
to meet the local requirements of that section. In addition, the farmers pro- 
duced 2,500 tons of food and forage for live stock. 

Hawaii was accustomed tc ship monthly 20,000 bunches of bananas. The 
removal of the steamers operating between Honolulu and San Francisco left the 
island with this supply of bananas on hand. It was found that one-third ripe 
banana pulp could be constituted for wheat flour in bread making. This prac- 
tice was widely adopted, and the use of the banana and other substitutes de- 
creased the importation of flour 51 per cent. 

The war problems presented to the Office of Home Economics were to make 
special studies of war foods and diets and prepare numerous pamphlets, which 
were widely used in connection with the extension work as well as for general 
distribution by the department and the Food Administration. Attention was 



>. ■■, 



- 146 - 
->aid to thrift in the use of clothing, household supplies, and household 
squipment. In cooperation with other bureaus, it made special studies in the 
is3 cf dried fruits and vegetables, in the use of cottage cheese, and other 
natters relating to the food values and uses of milk, in order that proper 
use might be made of these available foods to take the place of vheat and fats 
desired for exportation to European countries. In connection with the Food 
Administration and the Bureau of Education of the Department of Interior, it 
published a series of leaflets for popular use in educating the public to the 
necessity for changing its diet to release wheat and fats. It also prepared 
a series of outlines for courses of instruction in food conservation designed 
for women college students interested in food conservation who were supposed 
to go back into their own communities as volunteer workers. 



147 - 



THE EUR3AU 0? MARKETS 

The first thing that the Department of Agriculture had to consider during 
the war v/as the growing of more food, but there were two other tasks of 
scarcely less importance. One was seeing that food was properly distributed, 
and the other that food was not wasted. Nearly all the bureaus in the depart- 
ment had a part in these, just as they did in the production work, but there 
was one - the Bureau of Markets - wh.Cse organization naturally ran that way, 
and it was used more than any of the others in working out ways for better 
distribution and for putting the conservation doctrine into practice. 

Some new projects were added, others were expanded. Technical investiga- 
tions gave way, in large part, to the work of showing people how to do the 
needful things and actually helping to do them. Pains were taken to gather 
full information about food, food materials and feeds so that the work of dis- 
tributing them could be handled intelligently and to find out just how much 
food could safely be used at home and how much could be spared- The work was 
done in cooperation with the Food Administration, the War Industries Board, 
the Quartermasters Corps of the Army, the purchasing officers of the Navy, 
Councils of National Defense and other Government agencies engaged in war 
work. 

Four food and food materials surveys were made with the help of the 
States Relations Service and the Bureau of Crop Estimates. They showed the 
quantities of important foods that were in the hands of manufacturers and 
wholesale and retail dealers and in storage houses. Data were obtained 



- 14S - 
regarding the stocks of raw material on farms and foodstuffs in homes. The 
States Relations Service, in connection with the household consumption survey, 
assisted in making a special dietary study, the results of which were of im- 
portance not only during the war but promise to be permanently so. Through 
the assistance of the States Relations Service, reports were obtained direct 
frou threshers in order to determine the production of the various cereals 
during 1918; from April 1, 1918, monthly reports were secured from elevators, 
mills, warehouses and wholesale dealers in grain and flour, on commercial 
stocks of grain and grain products, and similar report-Si from wholesale grocers 
and certain manufacturers covering sugar, condensed milk, canned goods and 
other articles. A monthly publication, "Food Surveys," has been issued since 
April, 1918, giving the results of these reports. Special issues gave in 
detail the results of three of the four general food surveys. 
Cooperative Purchasing and Marketing; 
War conditions emphasized the importance of cooperative action in solving 
the purchasing and marketing problems of the growers of farm produce. Coop- 
erative organization problems wer9 discussed and suggestions given a large 
number of producers through conferences, farm bureau meetings, short courses, 
and similar gatherings. Personal assistance was given to many farmers in 
more than 30 States. Products included in these studies are fruits, vegetables, 
dairy products, potatoes, beans, cotton, hay, live stock, tobacco, nuts, honey, 
broom corn, and farm supplies. Where personal assistance could not be give.r. 
suggestions were made by correspondence and served as guides to many communi- 
ties in putting into operation plans for cooperative enterprises. A survey 
of cooperative enterprises in the United States was made and served not only 
as a distinct help during the war but is being continued under readjustment. 



- 149 - 

A very important line of work had to do with putting producers and city 
consumers in direct touch with each other. Demonstrations were may.e ;-' »'■ • > 
proper manner of preparing, packing and shipping farm products to facilitate 
sale direct to the consumer, and opportunities were found for marketing pro- 
duce which otherwise would have been wasted. 

An unprecedented impetus was given, as a result of the war, to motor 
transportation cf farm products. Work began in March, 1918, and systematic 
effort has been made ever since to emphasize such phases as were of assistance 
in solving the rural transportation problems caused by the war. Detailed in« 
formaxion 7i?as gathered regarding routes and items of cost. Supplementary re- 
ports were made for each route, showing operating conditions, business methods, 
facilities and general management, and all of this information was utilized 
in demonstrations. Detailed studies were made in a large number of districts 
looking toward the establishment of additional motor, freight and express 
lines- Eight demonst rational routes were started and have been successfully 
operated. Many new routes are in process of establishment, and requests for 
assistance are received from all sections of the country. Lists of motor 
trucks available during the peak of movement cf farm products were filed in 
some of the large cities. Interest is growing in the marketing bjp motor 
truck of live stock from rural sections within a radius of 75 miles of stock- 
yard centers. An investigator has been assigned to the Omaha section to study 
present methods, to stabilize the industry and to develop and extend routes 
into new territory. 

In 1917 a special investigator began work in China, Japan, eastern 
Siberia and the Philippines, finding out the possibilities of marketing Ameri- 
can fruits. This information was given Pacific Coast shippers for their 






- 150 - 
guidance during the fruit season of 1917-18. An arrangement -was made arith 
the Food Administration b> which the technologist in charge of Grain Standard- 
ization Investigations of the Bureau of Markets went to Australia t'j investi- 
gate the condition of large quantities of grain which had accunule-tad because 
no ships were to be had to take it to Europe. Arrangements wsrc r.ade for the 
selection and inspection of grain intended fcr shipment to the United States. 

In the autumn of 1918, a special investigator completed a stvdy of tno 
possibilities of marketing American fruit, live stock, meat, dairy product 
and wool in Australia, New Zealand and nearby islands. One of the- results was 
that American grapes are now permitted entry. With the Bureau of Plant Indus- 
try and the Bureau of Animal Industry, the Bureau of Markets, in the winter of 
1918, investigated conditions surrounding the marketing in Etrrope of live stock, 
meats, dairy products and seeds to determine the demands likely to be made upen 
America during reconstruction. 

Opening up Foreign Markets 

Throughout the war period, information as to conditions in foreign coun- 
tries was collactsd. Statistics and current reports on all agricultural prod- 
ucts were secured and tabulated in suitable form for use in current market re- 
ports. At several important ports, daily information was secured from steam- 
ship manifests regarding exports and imports of such perishable products a.; 
fruits, vegetables, meats, milk, butter and cheese. 

Another important line of work had to do with the preservation cf fruits 
and vegetables in transit and storage. Investigations had been conducted for 
several years, particularly as to the extent of deterioration caused by im- 
proper methods of harvesting, packing, storing a.nd shipping. Extensive demon- 
strations were made to bring about th9 use of tne information already 'obtained. 



- 151 - 
Growers and handlers were shown that decay and deterioration in transit can be 
reduced by mere careful handling methods. Demonstrations were made to show 
that the efficiency of refrigerator cars could be increased by modifying tha 
construction. Practically all of the refrigerator cars built for the post 
18 months follow the designs recommended by the Department of Agriculture. The 
Railroad Administration has adopted this type of car as its standard of effi- 
ciency. Test shipments of fruits and vegetables snowed that heavy leads prop- 
erly ventilated maintained s.s low a temperature as light loads. The data ob- 
tained showed what is necessary for frost protection and, in cooperation with 
the Railroad Administration, methods were worked out for the construction of 
heater cars. Loading demonstrations resulted in the adoption by shippers and 
railroad officials of regulations to reduce losses. Many common fruit storage 
houses have been constructed or remodeled, and important improvements have been 
effected in the construction, ventilation and management of houses and crll^.'s 
for potato storage, several hundred of which were built during the fall of 
1918, in accordance with department recommendations. 

Adapt in g Cotton to Airplanes 

With the acute shortage of fats and oils that existed during the war. it 
became of the utmost importance that cotton seed and cottonseed produces be 
fully utilized. Much work was done to lessen the enormous loss and waste in 
marketing cotton seed and cottonseed products, to secure more and better human 
and animal food and to release the transportation facilities required to haul 
useless foreign matter mixed with the seed. 

One of the most spectacular pieces of work done by the Department of 
Agriculture directly toward the winning of the war, was the development of 
cotton fabric to be used as a substitute for linen in the making of airplane 
wings . 



- 152 - 
After the Germans took Riga, the Allies were almost completely de- 
prived of raw material out of which to make airplane fabrics. From the be- 
ginning of flying machine development , it had been thought that linen was 
the only suitable material for making the wings, but in the vicissitudes of 
war, it came about that the enemy got possession of practically all of the 
flax in the world, the material from which linen is made. Ninety per cent of 
all the flax came from Russia, Courland and contiguous territory. After 
Russia went to pieces and particularly after, the Germans closed the Gulf of 
Riga, it did not come, it either stayed where it was or went to Germany. An- 
other 6 per cent of the world's output of flax was already in German possession 
in conquered Belgium so that for airplane and other needs the Allied nations 
had access to not more than 4 per cent of the output of flax. Unless a sub- 
stitute could be secured, the Allied armies would very shortly have no "eyes 
in the air." That was in August, 1917. In its extremity, the Bureau of Air- 
craft Production called a conference of representatives of the Bureau of 
Standards of the Department of Commerce, the Signal Corps of the Army, and the 
Bureaus of Plant Industry and Markets of the Department of Agriculture. As 
a result of this conference, the Bureau of Markets undertook to make a cotton 
substitute for airplane linen. Tests were instituted to determine the possi- 
bility of using Sea-Island, American Egyptian and regular Egyptian cotton of 
the Sakellaridis variety. Experts of the Department of Agriculture took charge 
of jsorae cotton mills that were turned over for the purpose end began making 
spinning tests. What they had to develop was a fabric possessing both the 
maximum of tensile strength and tearing strength with the minimum of elasticity. 
It was not long until they had made such a fabric, which was adopted as the 
international standard for airplanes. 



f 153 - 
Substitute for B al loon Silk 

At the saae time another line of investigations was carried out in an 
effort to find a substitute balloon fabric. The necessity for this was not 
so urgent as that for airplane fabric. Sufficient silk to make balloons could 
be obtained but it had to be brought from Japan and China which; owing to the 
shortage of ships and the submarine warfare waged by the Germans, was not an 
easy thing to do. Now an airplane fabric is one thing and a balloon fabric is 
quite another thing. An airplane fabric should have absolutely no elasticity. 
It must possess the highest possible measure of strength and resistence to 
tear, and it must be of extremely open weave. Nearly all the things that an 
airplane fabric must be, a balloon fabric must not be. Balloon fabric must be 
of exceedingly close weave, so close that, with a little rubberizing, gas can 
not get through it. These two dissimilar needs the cotton experts of the De- 
partment of Agriculture met out of the same materials. As a result of these 
investigations, between 50 and SO of the largest fine-goods mills in the United 
States were engaged in the production of airplane and balloon fabrics. During 
the last few months of the war, the shortage of these fabrics was overcome and 
a reserve of several million yards was acquired. 

Burlap was another material the commercial supply of which was practi- 
cally wiped out by the war. The bulk of burlap sacks originally came from 
India. During the war, the British Government took practically the ent5.re out- 
put for sand bags in the defensive works along the "Western Front. The supply 
for export to the United States was reduced, toward the vanishing point and 
prices went up accordingly. It was necessary to develop grain handling methods 
that would require fewer sacks. 

Prior to 1917, practically all the- grain in the States of Oregon, 



- 154 - 

Washington and Idaho was handled in socks. The f armors, country shippers 
and dealers, as a rule, did not know how to handle grain in bulk. The 
Bureau of Markets sent to the Northwest men who were thoroughly familiar 
with bulk handling of grain. They advised the farmers how to handle grain 
from the threshing machine, how to construct portable and stationary farm 
granaries, how to obtain and operate bulk wagons, granary elevators and 
other equipment necessary for handling grain in bulk on the farm. They con- 
ferred with farmers' cooperative organizations, with line companies and 
with independent dealers about the management "of bins, the construction 
and equipment of country elevators and similar matters. They assisted in the 
construction of a terminal elevator built by the municipality of Portland, 
Ore. This work produced desirable effects other than the saving of burlap 
sacks. During the war, most of the wheat grown in the Pacific .Northwest 
came East instead of going to tho Pacific Coast for milling or export as it 
had done prior to the war. The eastern markets handle grain in bulk and pre- 
fer not to receive it in sacks. The increased acreage planted to wheat as 
a result of war stimulation adied to the necessity of providing additional 
handling and storage facilities to take care of the crop. The change in the 
system of handling Pacific Coast grain probably will be permanent. 

Sto r-ping Faste in Food Grains 
It was necessary during the war to stop every possible waste of wheat 
and other food grains. One of the most serious elements of loss had always 
been fires from dust explosions in mills and elevators and at threshing 
machines. Millions of bushels of wheat had been destroyed every year in 
that way. A campaign was conducted by the Bureau of Chemistry, the Bureau 
of Markets, and the Bureau of Plant Industry for the prevention of such 



- 155 - 
losses. Investigations were made in all the principal wheat-producing sec- 
tions. The department recommended the installation of suction flues to re- 
move smut and grain dust, the installation of automatic fire extinguishers, 
and of a system to remove static electricity which was frequently the cause 
of the explosive mixture becoming ignited. A special educational campaign 
was made to show owners of mills and elevators and their workmen the condi- 
tions under which dust explosions and fires occur and the methods by which 
they may be prevented. A great many meetings were held. Information was 
presented by lectures, by lantern slides and motion pictures and by actual 
demonstrations of dust explosions. That work was begun in November, 1917. 
During 1918, not a single grain dust explosion of much consequence occurred 
in the whole country, 

Many similar fires have occurred every year in cotton gins, causing tre- 
mendous losses. During 1913, a campaign was begun for the prevention of 
cotton gin explosions and fires. During the fall about 450 gins were visited 
and investigations made as to the causes of fires. Information was furnished 
to owners and operators, just as in the case of the mills and elevators, as 
to the proper operation of the gins in order to avoid explosions. This cam- 
paign was begun a year later than that of grain dust explosion, and has not 
progressed so far but methods are developing which will reduce the number of 
fires in cotton gins. 

The several lines of market news service established shortly after the 
United States became a party to the world war, have proved among the most 
effective aids in facilitating the distribution of products by bringing the 
producers and the consumers in touch with each other. 



- 156 - 

The market nteWs service on fruits and vegetables, established prior 
to the war, was greatly enlarged during the emergency. Daily reports are 
issued on 32 of the more important fruit and vegetable crops and distributed 
to all interested persons. They give carload shipments, the jobbing price 
in the principal markets, f. o.b, prices and other 6hipping-point information. 

Over 10,000,000 Market Reports 

Thirty-two market stations were in operation at the beginning of the 
fiscal year 1918 and 20 others were opened during the year. 

During 1917, over 10,000,000 complete daily reports were issued from 
market field stations. The number of subscribers was about 90,000. During 
1918, the number of reports issued increased to 23,000,000, and the number 
of subscribers to 120,000, 

By special arrangements, reports have been received of local receipts 
and local market conditions in a number of cities not yet covered by the 
agents of the city market service. This information is published in daily 
or bi-daily reports for hotels, restaurants and stores. A special weekly 
review, showing the trend and fancies of the principal markets, is furnished 
to agricultural and trade papers. This review is based on the daily market 
reports of more than 500 carriers and is distributed to dealers, producers 
and other interested persons. 

The market news service on live stock and meats;, had been established on 
a relatively small scale prior to the war and branch offices had been opened 
in several cities. Emergency funds made it possible to provide for largee 
increases in the forces at these offices and to extend the leased wire service 
and to open offices in twelve other cities. Daily reports on meat trade 
conditions and a weekly review, showing the trend of meat movements and the 



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- 157 - 
prices, are issued. Tre review is particularly interesting to wholesale 
merchants, live-stock dealers and commission men. During 1916, about 
4,000,000 copies of the daily report and 700,000 copies of the weekly review 
were distributed. 

Since July 1, 1917, daily telegraphic reports have been received from 
railroad division superintendents showing the number of cars of each class 
of live stock loe.ded west of the Allegheny mountains. On January 1, 1918, 
Ihis -service was extended to include the railroads throughout the United 
States. The reports show points of origin and destinations of all shipments. 
A monthly report from the officials of 81 stockyards shows the receipts for 
the shipment and slaughter of live stock. Fifty-two of these yards report 
the number of stockers and breeders driven out to feeding districts. 

Information is collected showing the in and out movement of live stock 
in certain large feeding districts. This information is published weekly in 
"The Live Stock and Meat Trade News." Since June 1, 1918, all telegraphic 
market reports from Chicago Union Stockyards on live stock receipts and prices 
have been handled by the Bureau of Markets. This service is made available 
throughout the United States through the press associations. 

War Prod uce s New Market Services 

The market news service on dairy and poultry products is purely an out- 
growth of war conditions. The reports furnish a review of the dairy pro- 
duction of each State and the country as a whole. They have been used by 
various Governmental agencies, including the War Trade Board, the Shipping 
Board and the Fuel Administration, in determining policies relating to the 
conservation and market distribution of these products. 

Daily market reports are issued from the Washington office and from 



- 158 - 
eight branch offices, furnishing information en price.-., trade conditions, 
receipts, storage movement, and stocks in the hands of wholesalers and 
jobbers. Since July 1, 1918, these reports have included information on 
market prices of fluid milk and cream and condensed and evaporated milk, in 
addition to the wide range of manufactured dair3 r products previously included. 

Another news service growing wholly out of war conditions is that of 
grain, hay and feeds, branch ofi'ices are operated at New York, Richmond, At- 
lanta, Chicago. Minneapolis , Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Denver, Spokane and 
San Francisco, and from them are issued by-weekly reports containing statisti- 
cal information on the stocks of hay, grain and feeds, the supply of and de- 
mand for them, and the prices at which they are being bought and cold in car- 
load lots. Weekly news letters are issued showing the supply, demand, prices 
and movement at all the principal markets. Special surveys have been made 
from time to time covering various phases of the work. 

Thousands of cattle were saved from starvation in the districts where 
severe drought has occurred by the work of the emergency branch offices at 
^ort Forth, Tex. , and bi«5m?rck, K. Dak. The Fort Y. T orth office was opened 
in December, 1917, and maintained for several months. Its surveys covered 
Texas, New Mexico and contiguous territory, the object being to assist in re- 
curing feedstuffs for the cattle raisers in the drought stricken areas. The 
Bismarck office wa3 opened during the latter months of 1913 and rendered 
assistance in distributing hay and feed to the cattle men in the drought area 
of the Dakotas and Montana. 

Surveys were made at the request of the Food Administration to determine 
the amount of feedstuffs in the north Atlantic States, and the supplies of 



- 159 - 
lield peas in the Southeartorn States. Another survey, made at the request 
of the Railroad Administration, furnished information on the location and 
quantity of 30ft corn of the 1917 crop as it became ready for shipment. This 
information was used by the Director General of railroads in distributing oars 
in such a Vvay as to save this great quantity of feed from total loss. 

Timely Info rmation on Seed 
When the war broke out, it became apparent that, if the food production 
was not to be hampered by shortages of seed in any section of the country, much 
greater effort would have to be made by the Department of Agriculture in giving 
special information to growers and dealers. A special reporting service, there- 
fore, was organized, and a monthly publication was issued to give timely seed 

» 

information. Field offices were established in Chicago, Minneapolis, San Fran- 
cisco, Denver and Spokane. Vegetable, clover, and alfalfa surveys were mads in 
November, 1917. Three subsequent seed and vegetable surveys were mads. Through 
them, a comprehensive inventory was taken of the seed stocks of the country. 
Two special surveys of vegetable seed production were made. The information ob- 
tained was used in cooperation with the Department Seed Stocks Committee in 
seed stock distribution. Assistance was rendered in finding lots of wheat and 
rye in the Northwest, and judging their suitability for seed and in purchasing 
and distributing seed in the drought stricken areas in Montana and North Dakota. 
Information was furnished to the War Trade Board to assist it in shaping its 
policy icr exportation and importation of seeds, and special assistance was 
given in providing for Canada's requirements of several seeds. Information ob- 
tained in connection with this service is published in "The Seed 'Reporter," 
and special reports are issued when emergencies arise that require special con- 
sideration. 



- 130 - 

Weekly seed corn reports wei-e issued from Chicago, Minneapolis and Kansas 
City during the spring of 1918 when there was difficulty in finding enough 
sound seed corn. 

The city market reporting service has had a marked tendency to reduce mar- 
ket gluts by increasing the consumption of abundant products. A consumer's 
report and a grower's report ar9 issued. The former is made public through 
iccal newspapers, care being taken to avoid all technical expressions and to see 
that the reports may be helpful guides to the housewife" in buying fresh fruits, 
vegetables, poultry, and other food. In some cases a "fair price" list is 
published. The growers' reports are distributed daily at farmers' markets or 
nailed tc the farmers. In them, products in the market are grouped under 
heads showing whether the demand is active, moderate or poor. A brief dis- 
cussion is made of market features and tables are furnished, showing whether 
the supplies of various products are light, moderate, liberal or heavy, the 
prices received by the growers and the prices received by the wholesalers and 
aommission dealers, carload arrivals of certain products on the day of issue, 
and the total number of unbroken and broken cars en local tracks. Truck grow- 
ers and less than carload shippers surrounding the larger markets are thus 
enabled to adapt their marketing procedure to conditions. 
Reforms in Mer cha ndising Methods 

Careful studies are made of modern merchandising methods as they apply to 
food products, including stores that charge separately for goods delivered and 
charged and the "self serve" stores. The results of these studies have shown 
that, from the standpoint of consumers, producers and dealers alike, the hand- 
ling of foodstuffs on large volume, quick turnovers and small unit profits ^s 
desirable. In this way it has been ascertained that the cost of food distri- 



but ion nay be effectively reduced and spoilage and deterioration held to a 
minimum. 

Throughout the period of the war, trans port at ion conditions were such that 
the manufacturers, distributors and users of commodities in agricultural pro- 
duction had difficulty in obtaining cars. Many complaints and appeals for assis- 
tance wore received from producers and distributors and all of them were re- 
ferred to the Transportation Division of the Bureau of Markets. The bureau 
detailed transportation experts to heavy producing sections to -work in close 
cooperation with producers and carriers in an effort to secure better service, 
to avoid shortages of cars and to secure refrigeration in transit by making the 
fullest utilization of equipment by heavier and s*# better loading. 

Regulations regarding the distribution and cold storage of foodstuffs were 
formulated by the Bureau of Markets in cooperation with the Food Administration, 
Assistance was given to the Quartermasters Corps of the United States Army in 
planning better methods for the handling and cold storage of meat products in- 
tended for the Army abroad. 

The Food Production Act authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to investi- 
gate and certify to shippers the condition of fruits and vegetables received at 
important central markets. To perf oru that function, the Food Products In- 
spection Service was instituted in the larger cities throughout the country. 
New markets were added from time to time. At present, inspection offices are 
maintained in 32 of the largest cities, and from these 14 additional markets 
nerved. 

By authority contained in the Agriculture Appropriation Bill, inspections 
can be made not enly at the request of the shipper, as previously, but at the 
request of any party having a financial interest in the shipment, and certif- 



- 16 - 
icates can be made as to the quality and grade, as well as the condition of 
soundness. This work has resulted in the saving of a great ieal of food which 
would otherwise have been lost. The inspection eliminates delays, brings 
about speedy adjustments and practically puts out of business the fly-by-night 
commission operator who formerly bought on a gamble and rejected shipments 
without ??use if the price went down before the shipment arrived. 
Inspection Service Aids Food Administration 

The United States Food Administration made use of the Food Products In- 
spection Service of the Department of Agriculture. The surveys issued by the 
inspectors -/ere commonly used as a basis of settlement of disputes between 
shippers and consumers and the adjudication of disputes with the Food Adminis- 
tration officials. Much work was done by the inspectors in collaboration with 
the subsistence officers at the various Army posts and cantonments. Inspec- 
tors at the various markets made a practice of visiting the Army camps located 
in their districts at regular intervals and made timely suggestions regarding 
the inspection of vegetables -upon arrival at camp, ths msthods of storage, etc. 

At the request of the Navy Department, the service was extended to cover 
the inspection of foodstuffs purchased for the Navy at New York and at the 
Great Lakes Naval Training Station. Prior to that time, the best dealers were 
not inclined to bid en Navy contracts because they could not compete with 
those who -supplied products of inferior grade and condition. After the In- 
spection Service was put in force, large quantities of vegetables delivers :T to 
the transports were condemned and the actual receipts were confined to scunc 
stock suitable to carry in the hold of the ship. 

During the war period, standard grades for certain staple vegetables 
were worked out ar.d recommended. The United states Food Administration made 



- 163 - 
these grades compulsdry* They were e.lso adapted by the Amy as a basis on 
which to make all of its purchases. In this way the movement of a large crop 
was facilitated and market conditions generally made better. 

The authority contained in the Food Production Act has greatly facilitated 
the work of the Department of Agriculture in securing good storage reports. 
These reports now include 44 commodities and are based on the information re- 
ceived from practically all of the cold-storage and meat-packing establishments 
in the United States. 

The Government prices fixed for wheat are based -upon the standards es- 
tablished by the Department of Agriculture, and these standards have been used 
in practically all sales of wheat since the beginning of the war. The elimina- 
tion of competition by the establishing of a fixed price for 1917 wheat 
brought about entirely new conditions for the grain trade. The Federal wheat 
grades on which the prices were based had been made effective a very short 
time before, but the advisability of revising them to meet the changed condi- 
tions was considered. Suggestions as to the revision of the standards were in- 
vited from all grain interests. Twenty-two public hearings were held to secure, 
at first hand, the ideas of all branches of the grain trade. As a result, a 
revision of both the wheat and corn standards was promulgated by the Secretary 
of Agriculture and became effective on July 15, 1918. 

Grading; for Grain Corporation 

LIuch inspection work has been done for zone agents of the grain corpora- 
tion in determining the grades of samples. Cooperative work was done with the 
War Trade Board in the inspection of corn going to Canada. Such corn was 
%-hipped under license, accompanied by inspection surveys indicating the grade. 
This was done principally to protect the farmers of United States against 



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- 15* - 
shortage of seed corn. 

During the fall and winter of 1918, the grain corporation made large 
purchases of wheat based upon the Federal grades, and close cooperation was 
maintained by the Department of Agriculture. Intensive supervision was main- 
tained on all deliveries. Many appeals on grades assigned have been enter- 
tained. 

During November and December, appeals were checked involving an aggregate 
of 12,000,000 bushels of wheat. General suprevision of wheat delivered to the 
corporation is constantly maintained. 

It was found necessary to explain and demonstrate tc country grain dealers, 
consumers and farmers, the application of the Federal grades. Some sections 
of the country had not been accustomed to the purchase and sale of grain by 
grades prior to that time. 

Staging with July, 1918, a series of grain grading exhibits were made at 
the State fairs throughout the northern and western grain belts. During the 
summer and fall of 1917, grading schools were held in interior grain sections 
for the purpose of showing farmers and dealers how to inspect grain according 
to the standards. Representatives of the Bureau of Markets carried with them 
the necessary grain grading equipment and samples. Several State agricultural 
colleges that offered courses and lectures on the grading of farm products in- 
vited the bureau to make an inspection in connection with farmers' week or 
during the farmers' convention at the schools. Two such exhibits were made in 
January, 1919. 

The shortage of nitrates for use in fertilizers appeared at the beginning 
of the war as one of the most serious limiting factors in increasing food 
crops production. As a step toward meeting that need, Congress appropriated 



- 165 - 
$10*000,000 to be used as a revolving fund for the purchase of nitrate of soda 
to be sold to farmers at cost. By direction of the President, the War Indus- 
tries Board handled the purchase of the nitrate and the Secretary of Agriculture 
its sale and distribution. The Bureau of Markets was the agency through which 
the v/ork was done. About 120,000 short tons of nitrate war, purchased and ar- 
rangements were made to secure, through the Shipping Board, tonnage sufficient, 
to transport it from Chile to this country. Early in 1918, the price was es- 
tablished at §75.50 a ton, f.o.b. the cars at the point of arrival. This 
price was announced in April, 1918. Applications were received totaling more 
than the quantity of nitrate purchased. These applications came from county 
agricultural agents and committees of business men appointed for the purpose. 

Distributing Ni t rate to Farmers ' 
On account of the lack of available shipping facilities, it was possible 
to bring in only about 75,000 tons up to July, 1916. Practically all of this 
nitrate had been shipped to the farmers by that date. It early became evident', 
that because of lack of vessels, sufficient nitrate could not arrive in time to 
make complete delivery during the period of greatest need. In order to make 
the quickest and most equitable disposition of such supplies as were received 
and to save the farmers tho interest on the deposits required to be made in 
payment for it, there was appointed a distributor tovhtom shipments were made. 
This distributor apportioned the nitrate to the farmers of his county. 
i The distribution of the nitrate purchased from the War Department wassunder« 

taken in the spring of 1919. It is sold at §81 a ton f.o,b. the shipping point. 

On June 18, 1918, a proclamation was issued by the President requiring 
stockyards to secure licenses from the Secretary of Agriculture on or about. 
July 25, 1918. On September 6, 1918, this proclamation was supplemented to in- 
clude the stockyards' activities of slaughterers and Tenderers. The chief 



- 165 - 
of the Bureau of Markets was designated by the Secretary of Agriculture 
to administer the supervision of licensees under the proclamation. A 
force, of market supervisors was organized and 30 men were stationed at cen- 
tral points, exercising effective supervision over more than 100 licensed 
stockyards. On January 1, 1919, 2,285 licenses- had bean issued to stockyards, 
live-stock commission concerns, traders, packers and Tenderers. 

Complaints have been received from time to time concerning alleged 
violations of the regulations, and hearings have been held for the purpose 
of determining the issues involved. A number of complaints are now pending 
which involve questions of considerable moment to live stock interests and 
especially to live-stock producers. These complaints will be settled as 
soon as the necessary investigations and hearings have been completed. 

The services of the supervisors in relieving congestion in large mar- 
kets during the periods of heavy receipts, in improving weighing and yardage 
conditions, in expediting delivery service on belt line railroads and in 
numerous other directions ha.ve been highly commended by the patrons of 
these markets. The marked improvements effected and irregularities in 
market practices which have been corrected demonstrate the effectiveness of 
Governm. 'it supervision over the live-stock markets and the consequent im- 
portance of adopting such supervision as a permanent measure. 



167 - 



TI-SE DIVIFTON OF PUBLICATIONS 

Long before the entrance of the United States into the war, the De- 
partment of Agriculture was engaged in stimulating the production of farm 
products and the conservation of food stuffs. After this country got into 
the struggle, the department's activities were more intense and, when addi- 
tional funds were granted, were greatly increased. This dissemination of 
useful and timely information in relation to agriculture is one of the two 
original functions of the department. Naturally, its efforts to influence 
food production and conservation largely found expression through its publi- 
cations. It fell to the lot of the Division of Publications and the Office of 
Information to prepare and distribute the printed matter which should success- 
fully appeal to the farmer for a determined effort to increase the farm out- 
put sufficiently to assure victory. 

During the first three months of war- April, May, and June, 1917 - 
200 publications, amounting to 7,335,000 copies were issued and distributed; 
during the year ending June 30, 1918, 1,200 publications were issued in ex- 
cess of those issued during the year preceding, aggregating over 30,000,000 
copies; and for the six months ending December 31, 1918, 31 additional pub- 
lications appeared, of which there were 11,760,000 copies. In 21 months, a 
grand aggregate of nearly 1,450 emergency publications, amounting to prac- 
tically 49,500,000 copies were edited, printed and distributed by the 
Division of Publications in addition to the usual work, as measured by 
prewar data. 

From April 1, 1917, when the department inaugurated its campaign to 



- 168 - 
increase the production of foods and to conserve the food supply of the 
country, to December 31, 1918, the Division of Publication," used the 
stimulating-agriculture fund to edit, supervise the printing, and dis- 
tribute emergency leaflets, circulars, bulletins, posters, folders, placards, 
etc., to the number of 49,429,283. 

All of this printing was prepared specially to stimulate agriculture 
to help win the war and was in addition to the regular activities of the 
division. 

During the war the division has had at its command from the regular 
and emergency appropriations about yl, 000, 000 for printing and distributing 
information and suggestions, and with this sum about 200,000,000 copies of 
over 5,000 documents have been sent out in the intensive campaign to in- 
crease food production and to conserve the food supply. 

Valuable Bulletins Help Win War 

For emergency printing, to assist in this campaign, the department had 

special appropriations, aggregating about $279,462. Some of the regular 

publications were utilized in the campaign. The following Farmers' Bulletins 

were used: 
Farmers' Bulletins 

No. 824. How to Select Foods: III. Foods Rich in Protein. 

" 840. Farm Sheep Raising for Beginners. 

" 850. How to Make Cottage Cheese on the Farm. 

'.' 853. Home Canning of Fruits and Vegetables. 

rl 871. Fresh Fruits and Vegetables as Conservers of other 

Staple Foods. 

" 879. Home' Storage of Vegetables. 

" 881. Preservation of Vegetables by Fermentation and 

Salting. 

" 884. Saving Vegetable Seeds for the Home and Market Garden. 

" 900. Homemade Fruit Butters, 

" 915. How to Reduce Weevil Waste in Southern Corn. 

" 924, A simple Way to Increase Crop Yields. 

" 934. Home Gardening in the South. 

" 936, The City and Suburban Vegetable Garden. 



- 15? - 

No. 937. The Farm' Garden in the North. 

" 955. Use of Wheat Flour Substitutes in Baking, 

" 966. A simple Hog-Breeding Crate. 

n 937v Labor-saving practices in Haymaking. 

" 991. The Efficient Operation of Threshing Machines. 

The titles of the emergency leaflets, pamphlets, circulars, folders, 

and posters issued are: 

Leaflets 

United States Food Leaflets: 

1. Start the Day Right. 

2. Do you know Corn Meal? 

3. A Whole Dinner in Cne Dish. 

4. Choose your Food Wisely. 

5. Make a Little Meat go a L ong Way. 

6. Do you Know Oatmeal? 

7. Food for your Children. 

8. Instead of Meat. 

9. Vegetables for Winter. 

10. Plenty of Potatoes. 

11. Milk the Best Food we Have. 

12. Save Fuel when you Cook. 

13. Let the Fireless Cooker Help you Conquer. 

14. Save Sugar: Use other Sweets. 

15. Dry Peas and Beans. 

16. Fresh Vegetables. 

17. Use More Fish. 
18.. Rice. 

19. Hominy. 

20. Wheatless Bread and Cakes. 

21. Keeping Tab on the Poultry Business. 

22. Library Leaflets. 4, 5, 6, 7. 



Other Leaflets; 



First Care of Baby Chicks. 

Farm Labor Problems. 

Five Little Pigs. 

Pork Production in 1918. 

The President to the Farmers. 

Common Poultry Diseases. 

Seeds and Plants for Home Garden. 

Selection and Care of Poultry. Breeding Stock. 

Plant a Garden. 

A Simple Trap Nest for Poultry. 

Care and Feeding of Chicks. 

How tc Set a Ken and Care for Her. 

Ways to Use Cotta.ge Cheese. 

Cottage Cheese, an Inexpensive Meat Substitute. 

Seme Directions for Making Cottage Cheese. 



- 170 - 

Use Potatoes to Save Wheat. 

Chinch-Bug Leaflet. 

Grasshopper Control. 

Cutworm Leaflet. 

Grasshoppers. 

Turn Cold into Gold. 

Skim Milk for Human Food. 

Potato BiackHe'art. 

Home Canning of Meats and Sea Food. 

The Cattle Tick and the War. 

Spray Schedules for Apples. 

Potato Beetles. 

Spraying Potato Fields. 

Garden Plant Lice. 

Cabbage Worm. 

Pamphlets: Movable Hog Houses. 

Apple Spraying Schedule, Southern States. 

Why we Went to War. 

Steps to Victory. 

A City Woman Who found her War Job on 

the Fane. 
The Business of Agriculture. 
Delicious Products of the Dairy. 
Ice: A Harvest Crop in Midwinter. 

Circulars and Folders 

Swine Production Should be Increased. 
Preserving Eggs in Waterglass Solution and 

Limewater. 
Safe Farming and What it Means for the South 

in 1918. 
Back Yard Poultry Keeping. 
American Standard Poultry. 
Women on the Farm. 
Control of Potato Leaf Spot. 
Powdery Dry Rot of Potatoes. 
Use Fotatoes to Save Wheat. 
Egg Circular for Southern States. 
Cottage Cheese Dishes. 
Saving Eggs is Public Service. 
Use Barley, 'Save Wheat. 
Use Peanut Meal to Save Wheat and Fat. 
Use Soy Bean Meal to Save Wheat, Meat and Fat. 
Selection and Treatment of Seed Potatoes to 

Avoid Diseases* 
It is Possible to Prevent Grain Dust 

Explosions and Fires. 
Put a Stop to Grain Dust Explosions and Fires 

in Threshing Machines. 
Points for Poultry Packers. 
Points for Egg Buyors. 



Raise Chickens. 

Supply the Farm Labor Need. 

Formulas for Sugar- Saving Sirups.. 

Use Rice Flour to Save Wheat. 

Cottage-Cheese Dishes. 

Hatch Early. 

A Method for Preparing a Commercial 

Grade of Calcium Arsenate. 
Use Peanut Flour to Save Wheat. 
Use Scy-Pear. Flour to Save Wheat, Meat, Fat. 
Use Potatoes to Save Wheat. 
Labor Saving in Live Stock Production. 
Finding Labor to Harvest Food Crops. 
More Poultry Heeded. 

Use Corn Meal and Corn Flour to Save Wheat. 
Use Oats to Save Wheat. 
Prevent Threshing-Machine Fires. 

Posters Raise Mere Poultry. 

The Sweet Potato Weevil. 

Have Eggs to Sell when Eggs are Scarce. 

Raise Pigs and Help v.dn the War. 

Do not Sell Laying Hens. 

Rats. 

Cutworms. 

Chinch Bug. 

Turn Cold into Gold. 

Fight Wheat Rust. 

Potato Beetles. 

Grasshoppers. 

Garden Cutworms. 

Save Seed for Victory. 

Dust Explosions and Fires in Mills. 

Spraying Potato Fields. 

Garden Plant Lice. 

Cabbage Worm. 

Food is Going Up in Smoke. 

The Country Heeds You to Harvest Corn - The 

Country Heeds You to Harvest Cotton. 
Raise More Poultry. 

Apple Sprayir r Schedule, Southern States. 
Spray Schedule for Apples, Porthern States. 
Make Every Egg Cour.t. 
Charts , Home Canning. 
Saturdays too for Food Production. 
Climax Basket Loading. 

The Man Behind the Plow is the Man Behind the Gun. 
Farming Problems in 1919. 
More Money for Better Hides. 
The European Corn Borer. 
Join a Sheep Club. 
Save Fuel in Dairy Plants. 



— .L t — 

Posters and Films Carry Lies page s 

» 

The Section of Illustrations' contribution toward winning the '.var 
consisted in the preparation of a number of posters designed to promote 
foci production and conservation, and cf several thousand lcurbern slides 
for the American Red Gross to bo used in educational campaigns, the 
necessary material being furnished by that organization. 

In the Motion Picture Section, films were produced to stimulate in- 
creased agricultural production and food conservation, and were exhibited 
in ail parts of the country directly and through cooperation with the 
notion picture industry. In addition, special campaigns were conducted 
in motion picture theatres through the aid of slides, trailers, animated 
cartoons, and news pictures in film weeklies. Films were furnished, 
also, for use abroad. 

For the dissemination of information by means of motion pictures 
which, before that time, had beer conducted only on an experimental 
basis, Congress made an allotment which enabled tho department to under- 
take the systematic development of this activity as a war measure. 
Films were given wide distribution in about 40 war emergency subjects 
as follows: 

Construction of Concrete Silo; Construction on a 

Wooden Koop Silo. 
Cooperative Cow Testing in Vermont. 
Lambs frou Range to i«Iarket. 
From Wool to Cloth. 
Control oi Hog Cholera. 

Government Poultry Farm, Beltsville, Maryland. 
Milk and Honey. 

Types of Hordes ax the Washington H orse Show. 
Uncle Yarn's Pig Club Work. 
Why Eat Sottage Cheese. 
Bituminous Macadam Road Construction. 
Cement and Concrete Tests. 
Concrete Road Construction. 
Gravel Road Construction. 



- 173 - 

Macadam Road Construction. 

Road Construction and Maintenance, and Road Tests with 

Traction Dynanometer. 
Testing Rock to Determine Its Value for Road Building. 
Grazing Industry on the National Forests. 
Lumbering Yellow Pine in the Southwest. 
Lumbering Lodgepole Pine. 
Lodgepole Pine for Railroad Ties. 
National Forest as Recreation Grounds and "Bull Run" - 

Portland's Water Supply. 
The Wichita National Forest and Game Preserve. 
The Work of a Forest Ranger, Tree Planting on the 

National Forests. 
What a Careless Hunter in the Woods Can Do. 
Agricultural and Forest Resources of the United States. 
Control of Pink Bollworm of Cotton. 
Drying Fruits and Vegetables in the Home. 
Dust Explosions (A technical reel). 
Helping the Farmers of Tomorrow. 
To Feed a Hungry World. 

Cooperative Berry Growing in Pacific Northwest. 
Cotton. 

Poultry Pests and their Control. 

Preventing th9 Spread 01 the Gipsy and Brown-tail Lioths. 
Congressional Seed Distribution. 
Pythian Disease of Potatoes. 
Strawberry Industry in Kentucky and Bridge Grafting to 

Save Trees. 
Work of the Forest Products Laboratory. 

The equivalent of about 600 reels was shown in this country about 
2,000 times, to about a million people, mainly by representatives of the 
department. They were exhibited at field and demonstration meetings, 
municipal gatherings, schools, churches, expositions, county and State 
fairs, and in motion picture theatres. In addition to this educational 
distribution, a large commercial film manufacturing and distributing com- 
pany made releases in its screen magazines of abridgments of sixteen of 
these films. At least 30 copies of each of the films released commercially 
were distributed to motion picture theatres. They were shown at about 
1,000 theatres to approximately 5,000,000 people. 



- 174 - 
M otion Picture Work Bf fsetive 

The motion picture laboratory was used, also, by the Division of 
Films of the ■Committee or. Public JaSormation in conjunction with the force 
of this department for a period of about eight months. Nineteen reels of 
negative belonging to the Department of Agriculture were loaned to the 
Committee on Public Info -.-mat ion for the making of prints for use in this 
country and abroad. 

In the early months cf the war, before their own laboratories were es- 
tablished, the Signal Corps and Medical Corps of the Army frequently. made 
use of the motion picture laboratory and its equipment in the preparation 
of their films. In addition, the projection room of the laboratory was at 
all times at the disposal of the various War .Boards and Foreign Llissions. 

The department supervised the exhibition of motion pictures of several 
other branches of the Government, in conjunction with its own, on six 
circuits of State fairs in twenty-three States, at which about 100,000 
people were reached. Film was also mp.de available for exhibition to the 
people of France and Russia and to the soldiers, sailors and marines of 
this country and cf those nations associated with it. 

Four major campaigns were conducted through motion picture theatres 
during the year as follows: 

Eight thousand lantern slider, dealing with the preservation of. perish- 
able fruits anc vegetables were distributed for use in 2,000 motion picture 
theatres in the States of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York and New 
Jersey, where reports received by the department indicated that there was 
danger of a loss of a large amount of such perishables. 

The Forest Service conducted a fores-- fire prevention campaign, through 
motion pictures, in California, in cooperation with State agencies and a 
private film corporation. 



- 175 - 

Commercial motion picture weekly reels carried special pictures re- 
garding the production of back-yard poultry, together with trailers urging 
that more poultry be raised as a war measure. 

The largest campaign dealt with farm labor. The eight motion picture 
news weeklies carried news pictures, animated cartoons, and trailers from 
March until midsummer making appeals for the enlisting in farm work of 
people from the cities. Many other commercial films carried trailers on 
this subject. While it is impossible to measure the effect of these efforts, 
it is known that millions of people were reached and that, as a direct re- 
sult, much farm labor was recruited. 



.76 - 



THE OFFICE OF EXHIBITS 

More than 13,000,000 people saw, during 1918, exhibits made wholly 
or in part by the Department of Agriculture and designed especially for 
the purpose of promoting greater production of farm crops, preventing 
food waste, to stimulate various activities toward winning the war and 
to develop the strongest feelings of loyalty. 

One series of exhibits, covering more than thirty exhibitions and 
demonstrations, was planned and carried out wholly by the Department of 
Agriculture with the cooperation of fair and exposition associations. . These 
exhibitions had to do with food production, conservation and distribution. 
The territory covered extended from New Englsndto Florida and from the At- 
lantic Coast west to Illinois and Texas. 

Another series of exhibitions was carried out jointly with the depart- 
ments of War, Navy, and Interior, the Food Administration and the Committee 
on Public Information, fair and exposition associations cooperating. The 
exhibits filled eleven large freight cars. These were divided into six 
lots anu sent out on as many circuits, each circuit in charge of an expert 
from the Department of Agriculture. When installed the exhibits in each 
circuit filled a floor space of from 8,000 to 10,000 feet. 

The public everywhere manifested a keen interest in these displays. 
They were made the "feature exhibit" of the fairs and were admittedly the 
drawing card that brought the record-breaking crowds. 

Exhibits Instruct Crowds at Fairs 

Following are the places at which the Department of Agriculture ex- 
hibitn of the first series were shown: 



- 177 - 



Place 



i 1 a 1 r 



Date 



Cleveland, Ohio 
Topeka, Kans.r 
Berlin, Conn. 
Hutchison, Kans. 
Witchita, Kans. 
New York, N.Y. 
Dallas, Tex; .- 
Meridian, Miss. 
Columbus, Ohio 
New Orleans, La. 
Shrewsbury, La. 
Kansas City, Mo. 

Chicago, Ill- 
New York, N.Y. 
Springfield, 111. 
Cleveland, Ohio 
Chicago, 111. 
Peoria ; 111. 
Jacksonville, Fla. 
Baltimore, Md. 
New York, N.Y. 

Baltimore, Md. 
New York, N.Y. 



Industrial Fair and Exposition 

Topeka, State Fair 

Conn. State Fair Society 

The Kansas State Fair 

International Wheat Show 

New York Electrical Expositions 

State Fair of Texas 

Miss. - Alabama Fair 

National Dairy Show 

National Farm & Live Stock Show 

Jefferson Parish Fair 

The Greater Poultry Exposition 
Association 

The Chicago Poultry Show 

Annual Poultry Show 

The Centennial Poultry Show 

Cleveland Pure Food Show 

Patriotic Food Show 

Illinois State Poultry Show 

State Fair of Florida 

Patriotic Food Show "Over There" 

Nat'l Milk & Dairy Farm Expo- 
sition 

War Food Bureau 

Patriotic Food Show 



Sept. 

Sept. 

Sept. 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Nov. 



1-9, 

10-15 

10-15 

17-22 

1-15, 

10-20, 

13-28, 

15-20, 

18-27, 

10-17, 

21-25, 



1917. 
, 1917. 
, 1917. 
, 1917. 
1917. 

1917. 

1917. 

1917. 

1917. 

1917. 

1917. 



Nov. 26, Dec. 2, 1917. 
Dec. 4-9, 1917. 
Dec. 28-Jan. 2, 1918. 
Dec. 28-Jan. 2, 1918. 
Feb. 4-9, 1918. 
Jan. 5-13, 1918. 
Jan. 18-22, 1918. 
Feb. 26-Mar. 9, 1918. 
Apr. 1-30, 1918. 

May 20-27, 1918. 
June 3-15, 1918. 
June 14-22, 1918. 



Win dow Shows and Ot he r Special Exhibits 



New York, N.Y. 

Lancaster, Pa. 
New York, N.Y. 



York, Pa. 
Brooklyn, N.Y. 
Washington, D.C. 
Baltimore, Md. 
Washington, D.C. 



Conservation Exhibit & Window 

display 
Canning and Food Conservation 
Window Show and Hall Exhibit 

Window S hows Only 

Canning 

Food 

Canning 

Canning 

Conservation 



Aug. 1-30, 1917. 

Aug. 20-27, 1917. 
Sept. 10-20, 1917. 



Aug. 27-Sept. 6, 1917. 
Sept. 3-10, 1917. 
July, 1917. 
July, 1917. 
Nov. 1-6, 1917. 



- 178 - 
Second Series of Fair Exhibits 
The .j.oint Government exhibits the second series, were shown as 
follows: 



Place 



Fair 



Date 



CIRCUIT NO. 1 
Sedalia,' Mo. 
Des Moines, Iowa 
Hamiline, Minn. 
Milwaukee, Wis. 
Oklahoma City, Okla. 

Wichita, Kans. 

Waco, Tex. 

CIRCUIT NO. 2 
Erie, Pa. 
Rochester, N.Y. 

Syracuse, N.Y. 
Berlin, Conn. 
Trenton, N.J. 

CIRCUIT NO. 3 
Springfield, 111. 

Detroit, Mich. 
Nashville , Tenn. 
Memphis , Tenn. 
Knoxville, Tenn. 

Atlanta, Ga. 
Mac on , Ga. 
Valdosta, Ga. 
Jacksonville, Fla. 



CIRCUIT NO. 4. 
Columbus, Ohio 
Indianapolis , Ind. 
Topeka, Kans. 
Hutchinson, Kans. 
Muskogee, Okla. 
Kansas City, 40. 



CIRCUIT NO. 5. 
Lincoln, Itebr. 
Douglas, Wyo. 



Missouri State Fair 
Iowa State Fair 
Minnesota State Fair 
Wisconsin State Fair 
Oklahoma State Fair & 

Exposition 
Wichita International 

Exposition 
Texas Cotton Palace 



Erie Exposition 
Rochester Exposition & 

Korse Show 
New York State Fair 
Connecticut State Fair 
Interstate Fair Ass'n. 



Illinois Centennial State 

Fair 
Michigan State Fair 
Tennessee State Fair 
Memphis Tri-State Fair 
East Tennessee Division 

Fair 
Southeastern Fair Ass'n. 
Georgia State' Fair 
Georgia-Florida Fair 
Florida State Fair & 

Exposition 



Ohio State Fair 
Indiana State Fair 
Kansas Free Fair 
Kansas State Fair 
Oklahoma Free State Fair 
International Farm Con- 
gress 



Nebraska Stv'te Fair 
Wyoming State rair 



Aug. 10-17, 1918. 
Aug. 21-30, 1918. 
Sept. 2-7, 1918. 
Sept. 9-14, 1918. 

Sept. 21-28, 1918. 

Sept. 30 -Oct. 12, 1918. 
Nov. 2-7 



Aug. 19-26, 1918. 

Sept. 2-7, 1918. 

Sept. 9-14, 1918. 

Sept. 24-28, 1918. 

Sept. 30-0ct. 4, 1918. 



Aug. 9-24, 1918. 

Aug. 30 -Sept. 8, 1918. 

Sept. 16-21, 1918. 



Sept. 



21-28, 1918. 



Oct. 7-12, 1918. 

Oct. 12-18, 1918. 

Nov. 10-18, 1918. 

Nov. 18-23, 1918. 

Nov. 27-Dec. 7, 1918. 



Aug. 26-31, 1918. 
Sept. 3-7, 1918.. 
Sept. 9-14, 1913. 
Sept. 16-21, 1918. 
Sept. 30-Oct.5, .1918. 

Oct. 16-26, 1918. 



Sept. 1-6, 1918. 
Sept. 10-14, 1918. 



- 179 - 

Pueblo, Colo. Colorado StateFair Sept. 23-28, 1918. 

Salt Lake City, Utah Utah StateFair' Sept. 29 -Oct. 5, 1918. 
Los Angeles, Calif. California Liberty Fair 

Association Dec. 7-14, 1918. 

CIRCUIT NO. 6. 

Springfield, 111. Illinois Centennial State 

Fair Aug. 9-24, 1918. 

Huron, S. Dak. South Dakota State Fair Sept. 9-14, 1918. 

Lemmon, S. Dak. Interstate Fair Ass'n. Sept. 18-20, 1918. 

SUPPLEMENTARY TO CIRCUITS 

Baltimore, Md. Baltimore News Food Show," Feb. 6-15, 1919. 
Baltimore, Md. Southern Commercial Congress, Dec. 8-15, 1918. 
Akron, Ohio First-Second National Bank, Jan. 6-20, 1919. 
Pittsburgh, Pa. Poultry Exhibition of Pittsburgh, Jan. 13-18, 1919. 



180 " 



TIE OFFICE OF INFORMATION 

The Office of Information, being the purveyor of the department's 
news to the press of the Nation, the translator of its scientific knowledge 
into the language of the layman, carried the responsibility throughout the 
war of disseminating very promptly to the people of the country all the in- 
formation that the department could furnish as to means of increasing food 
production and promoting food conservation. Its work was intensified and 
increased not only, but branched into new lines- Before the beginning of 
American participation in the war, the Office of Information had sought, 
almost exclusively, to convey its message to country people. After that 
event, it was just as necessary that the message be heard by urban people, 
too. 

To reach the people of the cities and towns, indeed, was one of the 
earliest and largest war-time tasks performed by the office. At the very 
beginning it was apparent that food thrift, the saving of food by every 
reasonable means, was one of the basic necessities for winning the war. 
The Office of Information began the crusade immediately after the declara- 
tion that a. state of war existed. Everything was ready, in fact, fcr the 
launching of the crusade even before the declaration was made. During the 
few weeks following April 7, 1917, the Office of Information put before the 
readers of the Nation the fact that food saving was a necessary war 
measure, that, in the final analysis, food would win the war. Y/hen the 
Food Administration was created, it took over, in largo - measure, the task 
of promoting food thrift, but the Office of Information continued throughout 



- l&l - 

the war, in connection with its other duties, to keen the necessity for 
food conservation before the readers cf daily and weekly newspapers, farm 
papers, trade papers, household and other publications. 

During the first three months of the war, 237 articles on emergency 
subjects were issued to the press. Of these, 51 dealt with the elimination 
of food waste in the home and conserving perishable products by canning 
and drying, 45 with the proper handling of field crops to meet the emergency, 
26 with the live-stock situation, 10 with the necessity for increase of 
poultry, and 26 with methods of combating crcp rests and diseases. The 
emergency began after planting was well advanced in the southern half of 
the country, but until the end of the planting season, special attention 
was given to increasing the acreage of such food crops as spring wheat, 
corn, oats, rye, barley, potatoes and vegetables in hems gardens. i<iuny 
articles were issued urging people to eat more corn, to use it as a sub- 
stitute for wheat. 

To accomplish the necessary extension of services, the established 
channels of the office for distributing informational publicity to the 
agricultural, newspaper and magazine press were enlarged and new features 
developed. The Special Information Service, the Home Garden Series, the 
Canning-Drying Series, and the War Work Weekly were inaugurated. 

Valuable Articles Issued Through Press 

The Special Information Service was an illustrated weekly news service 
under four departments of two columns each, in which were discussed war 
problems of food production and conservation, especially as they related 
to city people and small producers. The four departments were: "Our Part 
in Feeding the Kation," "Helping the Meat and Milk Supply," "A Bird in 



- 182 - 

the Hand," (poultry) , and "The Housewife and the War." This service, de- 
veloped in October, 1917, has been furnished to 7,450 newspapers and prob- 
ably reached 15,000,000 to 20,000,000 readers weekly. It was continued in 
slightly different form after the war. 

The Home Garden Series was issued early in the season of 1918' to give 
accurate advice tc the home gardeners on the farms and in the cities which 
would aid them in producing ample supplies of home-grown foods. The 
material in this series - 37 columns - was sufficient to enable newspapers 
to carry timely gardening information in detail throughout the season. It 
was illustrated by cuts, mats, and photographs lent by the department. The 
series was supplemented during the producing season by timely mimeographed 
items discussing phases of the work arising from special conditions or de- 
velopments. A socond Home Garden Series was issued in the spring of 1919. 

The Canning-Drying Series followed the Home Garden Series as a supple- 
mentary service intended to encourage and insure the saving of food pro- 
duced in the home gardens. It was handled in the same manner as the Home 
Garden Series, proofs of the 22 columns of material being sent to all 
dailies in advance of the season and illustrations furnished on request. 

The War Work Weekly, a clipping sheet issued under the head "What the 
Department of Agriculture is Doing," was established in the spring of 1918. 
Through this service, newspapers and agricultural journals were advised 
week by week of results and progress obtained by the department's workers 
and its cooperating forces in the States in war emergency activities chiefly, 
but also of useful information obtained in the regular work of the depart- 
ment. In reporting progress in meeting the farm labor situation, this 
service acted as an exchange for successful ideas and plans used in the 
various States. Because the items in it were limited to 100 words, the War 



- 183 - 

Work Yseekly was an answer to the insistent demand of editors for brevity, 
on account of space limitations enforced by paper conservation and other war 
economy measures in publishing. The War Work Weekly was sent to the agri- 
cultural, daily and weekly press, and as the Food and Farming Weekly it was 
continued after the armistice. 

Circulars, pesters, and ether advertising matter were used liberally 
in the various campaigns of the department. Illustrated announcements ad- 
vertising certain of the department's Farmers' Bulletins were prepared and 
used widely in the advertising columns of the daily and weekly press. Through 
the Division of Advertising of the Committee on Public Information, special 
advertising campaigns calculated to stimulate production or conservation of 
farm products were carried on through the medium of free space patriotically 
offered to the Government by advertisers and by publishers. Campaigns to 
increase poultry production and consumption and to obtain supplies of farm 
labor were conducted. Page advertisements in a number of popular magazines, 
for example, carried to city people the message of the farm labor needs. 
The office also assisted in the preparation of the United States Food Leaflets, 
20,000,000 of which were distributed by the department. 

Direct Circ ula tion Reaches Millions 

The Weekly News Letter, the official publication of the department, was 
enlarged from 8 pages to 16 pages on occasions. The News Letter's circula- 
tion of 130,000 included newspapers and other publications, Federal and State 
agricultural workers and cooperators, agricultural leaders, libraries and 
chambers of commerce. As the official organ of the department, the News 
Letter carried material intended to further national agricultural campaigns 
and published the official statements of the department. Popular articles 
discussing experimental results and advice on agricultural methods also 



- 134 - 
were used and in more detail than in other nevis channels of the office. 

Through the plate service, the Office of Information prepared agri- 
cultural news -matter for distribution to the weekly and small daily press. 
During the war, the output of matter was tripled. This service, which is 
illustrated, is used in plate form by more than 1,000 weeklies and small 
dailies and in ready print by about 5,000 weeklies. 

By its mimeographed news service, the office furnished daily or as the 
necessity for prompt distribution demanded, timely press notices to press 
associations, correspondents, newspapers, agricultural journals, and special- 
ized publications generally or locally. The amount of material issued 
through this channel was approximately doubled. 

Conferences were held with agricultural editors to determine their needs 
for information from the department, to acquaint them with the department's, 
production campaigns, and to obtain their suggestions and enlist their 
cooperation in improving the department's informational activities. The 
needs of the farm press also were obtained in an extensive questionnaire 
in which editors were invited tc express their needs in detail and to give 
other information useful to the department in developing an agricultural 
syndicate. Through this syndicate, special feature articles on the more im- 
portant projects of the department were furnished exclusively to one journal 
in a section by the use of rotation lists. 

To obtain adequate publicity for the recommendations of conferences 
in the field, the office detailed representatives to attend meetings and to 
give out information to the press. 



185 - 



THE INSECTICIDE AND FUNGICIDE BOARD 

The Insecticide and Fungicide Board, in collaboration with the Bureau 
of Chemistry and the Bureau of Entomology, assisted a number of war agencies 
in important tasks. 

For the subcommittee on medical entomology of the National Research 
Council, the board made chemical examinations, laboratory tests and practical 
tests at Army cantonments with various remedies for body lice, and with other 
insecticides used by the Army and Navy against other insects. The results 
of this work were used by the committee on medicine of the National Research 
Council in recommending the most effective insect killers. 

The board cooperated with the Food Administration in enforcing the 
provisions of the Food Control Act relating to insecticides, and supplied to 
that body information en various subjects. A representative of the board was 
present as advisor of the Food Administration in conferences with insecticide 
manufacturers. As a result of these activities, the producers* price of 
white arsenic was reduced from 12-16 cents to 9 cents for carload lots and 
9-g- cents for shipments of less than a carload, resulting in lower prices for 
various spraying materials, such as Paris green, lead arsenate, calcium 
arsenate and other arsenical insecticides. 

The board cooperated with the Wood Chemical Section of the Raw Materials 
Division, Council of National Defense, in arranging for the release of 
acetic acid, so greatly needed in the airplane program, by substituting 
vinegar for acetic acid in the manufacture of Paris groen. Representatives 
of the board sat with the committee of the Council of National Defense in 



- 186 - 
conferences with manufacturers of Pari:? green, 

For the TIar Department, the board assisted in making tests of the Megan 
fumigating apparatus to determine whether it, with the formula suggested, 
could he used for destroying body lice and their eggs and pathogenic bacteris 
in clothes. The apparatus and formula vere found to be net effective. 

A member of the Insecticide and Fungicide Board served throughout the 
war as a member of the Joint Information Board on Minerals and Derivatives. 



• * ™ 

The most noticeable effect of the war on the regular work of the 
library of the Department of Agriculture was in the Reference and L ^oan 
Divisions. This was due tc two causes. First, the war activities of this 
and other Government departments, which gave rise tc many new lines of in- 
vestigation, and second, the creation by the Government of various new 
offices and bureaus for the propagation of the work of the war. All of 
these new offices needed library facilities in a greater or less degree, 
and none was provided with them to the extent of its needs. This put upon 
the established libraries of the Government the responsibility of supply- 
ing the new wants in so far as they were able, and, of necessity, greatly 
increased the volume of work. This library was ceiled upon to do its full 
share in meeting these new demands. 

The Food Administration made very frequent use of the facilities of 
the main library and also of the branch libraries. Without the resources 
of this library to draw upon, it- would have been considerably hampered m 
some of its research work. Among the other Government offices which used 
the library may be mentioned the American University Experiment Station of 
the War Department, the Edgewood Arsenal and other branches of the Chemical 
War Service, the Ordnance Department the committee, on Public Information, 
the Federal Board for Vocational Education, the Division of Export Licenses 
and other offices of the War Trade Board, various divisions and offices 
of the Council of National Defense, including the Women's Committee, the 
Shipping Board, and the War Industries Board. 



- 188 - 

In addition to meeting these increased demands along the line of 
its normal and regular duties, the library endeavored to render assistance 
in other war activities of the Government by lending two of the library- 
assistants to the committee en Public Information for the work of preparing 
an information file of Government activities and officials. 

The librarian was appointed in June, 1917, as chairman of the American 
Library Association food information committee, and, in that capacity as 
well as through the library, endeavored to aid in various ways in the work 
for food conservation and increased production. In August, 1917, a cir- 
cular letter was sent to the public libraries of the country calling atten- 
tion tc the opportunities for libraries to serve in this work. A second 
letter was sent in April, 1918. Lists on food subjects were also prepared 
and publications of the department or. these subjects were sent in quantities 
to libraries for distribution. 

In the line of war publications, the library issued a series of sever. 
Library Leaflets as follows: No. 1, "Raise Chickens;" No. 2, "Raise Pigs;" 
No. 3, "Raise Sheep;" No. 4, "Bread and Cereals;" No. 5, "Vegetables and 
Fruits;" No. 6, "Meat and Meat Substitutes;" No. 7, "Fats and Sugars." 

The leaflets were issued to help 
in the work of increased food production and conservation. 



129 - 



THE OFFICE OF FERTILIZER CONTROL 

The fertilizer industry of the country was placed under license con- 
trol, following a proclamation by the President on February 25, 1918, the 
object being to secure an adequate supply of fertilizers to grow the crops 
most needed during the war. The work was done by the office of Fertilizer 
Control, created in the Department of Agriculture as an emergency organiza- 
tion. 

Of the three main elements of commercial fertilizers, the United States 
was independent only as to one. The supply of phosphate rock was adequate, 
but the means of transportation from the mines to the mixing plants were limi- 
ted and somewhat uncertain. Prior to the war, the United States had been 
dependent upon Germany for practically all of its potash and upon the Chilean 
deposits for most of its nitrates. These supplies were cut off, the one as 
a direct result of the war and the other, largely, by the shortage of ship- 
ping facilities. Important fertilizer materials, particularly nitrate of 
soda, ammonium sulphate and sulphuric acid, were required to a great extent 
for the manufacture of munitions. 

The firms engaged primarily in manufacturing fertilizers were placed 
under license immediately after the President issued his proclamation. Liany 
important fertilizer ingredients, however, are by-products of oxher in- 
dustries, and considerable time was necessary to complete the necessary work 
for bringing these under control. 

One of the first large results of control was the "thirty-ton agreement." 
Before that time, fertilizer manufacturers had. made lower prices to dealers 



- 190 - 
than they would mqke to individuals or farriers' associations purchasing in 
wholesale quantities. Under the "thirty-ton agreement," manufacturers bound 
themselves to charge the same prices in wholesale lots of not less than 30- 
ton carloads or such other carload unit as might be fixed by the Car Service 
Section of the Railroad Administration. 

Fertilizer Benefits to be Permanent 

The United States will come out of the war much more nearly able to 
meet its own fertilizer needs than when it went in. The office of Fertiliser 
Control investigated the fertilizer requirements of the country, the available 
supplies of fertilizer ingredients, the potential sources of fertilizers 
and methods employed both in the production of raw materials and mixed fer- 
tilizers. Means were found for increasing the production of important in- 
gredients. The production of ammonium sulphate, one of the important materi- 
als for supplying nitrogen, was increased 50 per cent by the installation of 
by-product ovens at cooking plants and it is believed that in another year 
the needs of the fertilizer industry will be fully met. 

Sufficient domestic potash tc meet the Nation's needs is not yet in 
sight, but a substantial beginning has been made. The normal potash re- 
quirement of the country is about 240,000 tons. The principal sources of 
supply at present are the natural brines of Searles Lake in California, and 
the Nebraska lakes. Other scurces are in process of development. The dust 
escaping from cement works is capable of producing 70,000 tons a year and 
will yield, perhaps, 10,000 tons this year. Blast furnaces, also, can re- 
cover large quantities of potash as a by-product, but they are not yet as 
well developed as the cement works. Some silicates, especially the green- 
sand deposits of New Jersey, the sericite shales of Georgia and the leucite 
rocks of Wyoming, may become important sources of potash. The Department 



~ 191 - 
of Agriculture demonstrated, during the war, the possibility of obtaining 
high-quality potash from the giant kelps of the Pacific Coast, but the coat 
of manufacture is high and the location is unfavorable. This source is not 
likely to furnish a permanent peace-time supply. On the whole, however, the 
prospects cf developing a permanent potash industry are very promising, and 
it is certain that the United States never again will be wholly dependent 
upon an enemy for supplies of this important fertilizer material. 

A complete survey of the fertilizer situation was made, together with 
special inquiries on subjects of particular interest. Because of the im- 
portance of nitrate of soda and sulphate of ammonia as fertilizer ingredients, 
monthly reports were required from all dealers in these commodities, from all 
producers of ammonium sulphate and from fertilizer mixers showing their 
consumption and stocks. 

In cooperation with the Bureau of Crop Estimates, an investigation was 
made to determine the prevailing custom in the use of fertilizers on different 
c*ops in the different parts cf the country. A similar study was made of 
the manure used on crops. This information has been put in permanent form 
and will be of use when work is begun toward finding a thoroughly scientific 
basis for agricultural practice with regard to fertilizers. 

Stabilizing fert ilize r Market 

After compilation of the necessary information as to the available 
supply of fertilizers and fertilizer ingredients and on requirements; a 
section on distribution was organized and supervised the allocation of 
fertilizers to the different crops and to the various sections of the 
country. 

The office was frequently called upon to decide whether or not exports 
or imports of fertilizers should be authorized by the Y»ar Trade Board. On 



questions of export, the decision depended upon whether there was a 
surplus and whether the fertilizer in question was tc be used in the 
production of a crop that was scarce and of value tc this country and the 
Allies. On questions of imports, the office was guided largely by the 
need of the material as compared with other uses for the available shipping 
space. 

Problems relating to the transportation of fertilizers were handled 
in cooperation with "ohe Railroad Administration. Efforts were made to 
provide sufficient car service for the phosphate mines in Florida and to 
promote movement early in the season when traffic conditions were better. 
Arrangements were made with the Priorities Board, the Fuel Administration 
and the Railroad Administration to provide sufficient fuel for the Kebraska 
potash plants. Numerous other cases of arranging for transportation facili- 
ties were dealt with. A great deal was done, in the interest of car con- 
servation, tc encourage fuller loading of freight cars. 

Detailed 3tudies were made to proviso the necessary information for 
dividing the country into fertilizer zones, which would have become 
necessary if hostilities had continued. 



193 



THE OFFICE OF FARM EQUIPMENT CONTROL 

During the war the Department of Agriculture exercised, through an 
emergency office, control over the fane equipment industry of the country. 
The authority for such control was contained in the Food Control Act of 
August 10, 1917. Congress regarded it as necessary to prevent scarcity, 
monopoly, hoarding and injurious speculation and to secure the necessary 
distribution. The President was authorized, whenever he should find it 
essential, to make such regulations as necessary and to institute a licens- 
ing system covering importation, manufacture, storage and distribution of 
farm machinery, used in the production of food and feed, implements and 
tools. The President, on May 14, 1913. issued a proclamation putting the 
licensing system into effect and designating the Secretary of Agriculture tc 
carry it into effect. 

The purpose of the system was to insure an adequate supply of farm 
equipment at fair prices. Licensees were prohibited from handling any farm 
equipment at an unreasonable or discriminatory profit. All resales tending 
to result in higher prices were forbidden. All attempts at restricting the 
supply, either locally or generally, through monopolistic handling were 
forbidden. Licensees were required not to permit waste or any preventable 
deterioration in connection with the importation, manufacture, storage, dis- 
tribution or sale of farm equipment. They were forbidden also to make any 
misleading statements tending to increase the price of any equipment. All 
quotation of prices and statements about equipment were required to be 
capable of verification from the records of the dealers, manufacturers and 
others. 



19 Si- 



Representatives designated by the Secretary of Agriculture had access 
tc the plants, offices and stores of manufacturers, dealers and others en- 
gaged in the handling of farm equipment, could inspect the factory or store, 
examine the books and other records and, if deemed necessary, require sworn 
statements from licensees. 

Oversight was maintained from the factory to the farm. The county 
agents and employees of the Department of Agriculture cooperated in gathering 
information as to the prices farmers were paying and had been paying for the 
past five years for equipment. 

The result was that the farm equipment industry was operated on a fair 
margin of profit, a sufficient supply was turned out and properly distributed 
and the farmer bought his equipment at a just price. 

lb actual reduction of the needful supply of farm machinery and equip- 
ment was at any time necessary. Materials were, at times, very scarce, but 
elimination of patterns little used, and looking after the repairing of *Jd 
equipment more carefully was found to be an effective remedy. In a few in- 
stances, there were cases when farmers were not able to get J us "& what they 
required but in most cases the:-e was a complete supply of all the necessary 
patterns of farm equipment. The capacity of the manufacturers was ample 
and the reduction in the supply of raw material by reason of the war require- 
ments was of such short duration that there was practically nc shortage in 
the supply of equipment. 



- 194 - 



EMERGENCY WAR WORK WITH SEED 



Immediately after the entrance of this country into the war, the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture received floods of inquiries as to where seed could be 
purchased or obtained gratis. The emphasis that had been laid upon the food 
situation was very largely responsible for the insistent demands for informa- 
tion regarding seed and seed stocks. 

In order that the department might be in a position to give as much in- 
formation as possible, the Secretary under date of April 21, 1917, appointed 
a committee on Seed Stocks, consisting of eight persons. 

The committee was ordered to secure full information regarding available 
seeds and seed stocks for staple feed crops including corn, wheat, oats, 
barley, rye, potatoes, flax, beans, peas, soy beans, Kafir, milo, and sweet 
sorghums, and the needs of special localities or regions for such seeds. It 
was directed also to consider questions relating to the growing and distribu- 
ting of seed stocks, to ascertain the quantity and price of seeds available 
and the probable shortages in particular regions, and to advise as to means 
for meeting such shortages. 

The committee at once proceeded to take an investor/ of the Nation's 
seed stocks. It had at its disposal the well -organized machinery of the 
Bureau of Crop Estimates, with its large crops of crop reporters, the machin- 
ery of the Extension Service, the newly organized marketing section of the 
Bureau of M a rkets, the inspection forces of the Bureau of Chemistry, and the 
crop experts of the Bureau of Plant Industry. For the first time in its 
history, the Department of Agriculture obtained a close and- accurate view 
of the country's seed supply. 



- 195 - 
Early in its history, the committee was confronted with the need for 
a general program of production, in order that it might take steps to en- 
courage the saving of seed of certain staple crops. In the case of flax it 
was found that the readily available supply cf good seed for the spring of 
1917 was apparently inadequate to sow an acreage sufficient to produce seed 
for domestic crushing needs, estimated on the basis of normal demands and 
much reduced imports. It was decided that at least a normal quantity of 
flax seed was desired, and a campaign was instituted among grain dealers 
and oil mills with a view to cleaning and saving seed for sowing a relatively 
large acreage. 

Equalizing Seed Distribution 
The information obtained by the committee was helpful in forming and 
carrying out the department's 1917 program of production. The seed require- 
ments cf the various crops, based on normal acreages, were estimated and 
efforts were put forth to make stocks of good seed as available as possible. 

In the first three months cf the committee''s activities it had im- 
pressed upon it the fact that attention can not be called to a shortage of 
• seed with a view to conserving that particular kind without producing a 
marked tendency to increase the price and encourage speculation. It was 
found necessary, therefore, to exercise considerable care in this regard. 

On August iOy 1917'^' the Vood.Producti--'-'. •S'-'d the Food -Control Acts be- 
came effective. The Food Production Act carried with "it- a provision for tile 
purchase 'and sale of-, seeds to'""' farmers as follows: 

"Sec. 3. That whenever the Secretary of Agriculture shall 
find that there is or may be a special need in any restricted area 
for. seeds suitable for the production of food.'and feed crops, 
he is-authorized to/purchase, or contract with persons to grow sucn 
-seeds, -to store them, and to furnish them to farmers for cash, at 
cost, including the expense cf packing and transportation; 



- 196 - 

"Sec. 8 *-*-■**-* •# For procuring, storing, and 
furnishing seeds, as authorized by section three of this Act, 
(?2, 500 ,000, and this fund nay be used as a revolving fund until 
J une thirtieth, nineteen hundred and eighteen." 

Congress added *)4,000,000 "to the appropriation for the emergency pur- 
chase and sale of seed by a provision in the Urgent Deficiency Act, March 
26, 1918. 

Remedying Drought Dsraare 

The most important activities of the committee on Seed Stocks and those 
which had the most direct bearing on the seed supply were undertaken under 
the provisions of these acts. 

In the summer of 191? severe damage resulted to crops from drought, •. 
especially in carts of Texas, North Dakota, and ilontana, and in Oklahoma 
and Kansas. 3y midsummer it became evident that many counties in these 
States would not produce seed enough to plant their normal acreage? the 
following year. The situation became' quite alarming and, because of the 
precarious condition of the world's food supply, more or less hysteria pre- 
vailed. The department and State officials made as careful surveys of the 
seed situation as possible in the counties where the drought was most 
severs, and it was decided tc use the funds and authority conveyed ir. the 
Food Production Act to relieve the apparent emergency. The committee rn 
Seed Stocks, in taking up the emergency purchase and sale of seed, had the 
following objects: 

1. Tc conserve seed that was badly needed in a particular 
locality from being used for food or feed or in any way passing 
out of availability to the locality where it was produced and 
where it' was badly needed. 

2. To insure an adequate supply of good seed for sections 
where an insufficient quantity was produced. 



- 197 - 

3. To assist agencies th; t ' ere undertaking to finance 
farmer- in the purcha°ing of peed by making x+ possible for 
then tc depend upon a definite supply at nearly a fixed price. 

4. To prevent speculation in seed and to hold price" 
to a fair level. 

After considering the needs and recommendations of the drought-stricken 
areas, arrangements were made for the purchase and sale of seed in Texas, 
Oklahoma, Kansas, Ifcrth Dakota, and Montana. Seed of corn, cotton, the 
sorghums, and peanuts vras purchased for Texas: sorghums for Oklahoma and 
Kansas; and barley, oats and flax for North Dakota and Montana, 

The severe drought of the summer of 1917 was not the only factor that 
proved deterimental tc the seed supply of the country. On account of the 
very late season and the early frosts and freezes, incalculable damage was 
done to the ecru crop, and the supply of good viable seed corn produced in 
the norther:: part of the Corn Belt -was far from-' sufficient for planting re- 
quirements. This -.ras the greatest emergency in seed supply during the 
period of the war. The committee on Bead Stocks recognized the seriousness 
of the situation early in the season and did what it could to call attention 
to the necessity of conducting seed-corn saving and testing campaigns. ' In 
this connection, the work of the Stats institutions, especially the ex- 
tension services of the various St i ■ t;as admirable and productive of ex- 
cellent results. It soon became apparent, however, that something more than 
seed-com saving and testing campaigns was necessary, and the department 
was called upon to allot funds iron the appropriation for the purchase and 
sale of seed conveyed in the Food Production Act. Allotments were made, 
especially for Ohio, Indiana. Michigan, North Dakota and Iowa. Since a 
sufficient supply of local seed corn could not be had in all cases, the 
committee, in cooperation with the State officials, arranged for the im- 



- 193 - 
portation of lots of seed from other localities. One of the largest 
experiments in seed-corn acclimatization ever attempted was conducted. 
Seed corn from Pennsylvania and Delaware was shipped to Ohio and Michi- 
gan, and from tew Jerssy to Indiana. It was impossible to get seed corn 
or varieties nearly adapted to Nox-th Dakota conditions except in the New 
England States, and several cars were shipped from Rhode Island and 
Connecticut. The results proved highly satisfactory, the long and favox~- 
aole growing season of 1918, possibly havixig much to do with the outcome. 

Rese rv e Se ed Sup p ly Kept . 

As the planting season approached, the department was urgently re- 
quested to use the funds at its disposal to provide a reserve supply of 
seed corn of late planting and replanting. Some cf the local financial 
agencies that were assisting in providing corn for the first planting 
could not use their funds to provide a reserve for replanting. They could 
purchase corn only as orders were received for it. It was concluded by 
the department, after carefully considering the situation, that the im- 
portance of insuring a large acreage of coi-n was sufficient to warrant 
the risk that might be taken in buying seed for a replanting reserve. 

The seed purchased by the department for first planting was all sold 
to farmers for cash at cost, but a rather large percentage cf that pur- 
chased for reserve was not called for, since the weather throughout the 
entire Corn Belt was so favorable during the planting season that the re- 
planting requirements were very far below normal. 

In its emergency purchase and sale of seed there was sold by the 
department a sufficient quantity for planting approximately 1,200,000 
acres. The department did not sell all the seed it purchased. It was 



- 199 - 

handicapped to some extent by the wording of the lav;, which rar>rio it 
necessary to sell at cost and therefore allowed no margin to take care of 
declining prices. In the drought-stricken areas of the Southwest, the 
drought continued sc late in the spring of 191S that the demand for seed 
at the normal seeding time was greatly reduced, and this, together with 
the fact that the supply of seed, especially of the sorghums, was appre- 
ciably greater than had originally been estimated, caused by a decided 
break in the sorghum-seed market. Speculators in a panic offered their 
stocks for sale much below cost. 

Several points were clearly brought out in connection with the emer- 
gency purchase and sale of seeds, probably the most important being that 
high prices go far toward overcoming shortages. It is really remarkable 
how much seed will be placed on the market as the result of very attractive 
prices. 

The authority to purchase and sell seed to fanners for cash at cost 

provided in the Food Production Act of August 10, 1917, was continued in 

an act with the same title for the fiscal year 1319. The wording of the 

provision was changed somewhat and is as follows: 

"For procuring, storing, and furnishing seeds, as authorized 
by section three of the act, the appropriations for said pur- 
poses of $2,500,000 in section eight of the Act and $4,000,000 
under the heading 'Department of Agriculture 1 in' the Act" approved 
March twenty-eighth, nineteen hundred and eighteen, entitled 
'An Act making appropriations for the fiscal year ending June 
thirtieth, nineteen hundred and eighteen, and prior fiscal years, 
on account of war expenses, and for other purposes', shall be 
available until the date when 'said Act of August tenth, nineteen 
hundred and seventeen, shall cease to be in effect, and any moneys 
heretofore or hereafter received by the UnitedStatcs for furnish- 
ing such seeds may be used as a revolving fund." 

A large part of Texas sustained in 1918 severe damage to crops as 

the result of droughts even more destructive in nature than those of 1917. 



- 200 - 
An emergency was produced in certain sections in connection with the 
supply of suitable seed corn. Because of the benefit accompanying the 
department's emergency purchase and sale of seed corn in Texas in 1918, 
State officials and public-spirited individuals urged the department to 
assist in the same manner as the previous year. The sum of $75,000 was 
allotted for this wore -from the funds appropriated for the purchase and 
sale of seed to farmers in the Food Production Act, 1919, and arrangements 
made to purchase and sell corn as was done in the fiscal year 1918. 
Approximately 10,000 bushels was purchased. 

Insuring; Price of !7heat 
Another function which the C ommittee on Seed Stocks was called upon 
to perform under the emergency legislation developed with the fixing of the 
price of wheat. After the price of wheat was fixed, the Grain Corporation, 
a subsidiary branch of the United States Food Administration, formulated 
and promulgated regulations to maintain a fixed price level and to control 

... 

the movement of the wheat supply of the country. There was a provision 
against the storing of wheat in elevators and warehouses for a period longer 
than 30 days. It was soon found that if this was strictly enforced it 
would ..eriously interfere with the storage of seed wheat, especially in 
the spring-wheat areasand in the sections where winter wheat is sown before 
the crop of the same year is available, notably in the Judith Basin and 
other parts of the Northwest. The regulations did not go into effect in 
time to interfere with the holding of seed of winter wheat for the 1917 
sowing. In a conference between members of the Grain Corporation and the 
Committee on Seed Stocks, a plan was developed whereby seed wheat and 
seed ry.e (rye likewise being largely under the control of the Grain Cor- 
poration) could be held until after the sowing season had passed. The 



- 201 - 
pi aii was briefly this: A dealer wishing to hold wheat or rye for seed 
was required to apply to his zone agent, who was the Grain Corporation's 
representative in his zone, for a license to store these seed grains. If 
he was in good standing with the Food Administration, his application- 
was approved and he was instructed to submit samples of the lots he de- 
sired to store to the laboratory of the Committee on Seed Stocks in his 
State or zone. These samples when submitted were examined, and notifi- 
cation was sent to the dealer and also to the zone agent as to their 
suitability for seed. In this way, very close supervision was kept of 
the stocks of wheat and rye held for seed by grain dealers. To stimulate 
the holding of a sufficient quantity of seed and in recognition of the 
cost of storing and handling it, the Grain Corporation allowed the dealers 
to charge not in excess of 15 per cent above the Grain Corporation's price 
for the same grade of wheat at their shipping points. 

The handling of these samples entailed quite a lot of work, which was 
done at four points: At Minneapolis, in a laboratory established especially 
for the Committee on Seed Stocks; at Pullman, Washington; Moscow; Idaho; 
and Corvallis, Oregon, in cooperation with the State agricultural colleges. 
Thousands of samples were examined, and upward of a million bushels of 
wheat approved and stored under this plan in 1917-18. The Grain Corpora- 
tion changed its plan of maintaining price levels for the crop of 1913, 
and the regulation limiting the storage of wheat to 30 days was abolished. 

Making Good Crop Failures 

Crop failures made stocks of good seed wheat scarce in parts of North 
Dakota and Montana, and the desire to increase the acreage of spring wheat 
in the spring of 1918, especially in the margins of the spring-wheat area, 
made it necessary to devote considerable attention to the seed supply. 



The Grain Corporation, upon the recommendation of the committee on Seed 
Stocks, stored seed wheat at points tributary to the areas where the crop 
of the preceding harvest was short and also shipped it into the twilight 
areas where the tendency to sow indicated a demand for se^d in excess of 
the supply. Approximately 500,000 bushels was provided for such areas 
through this cooperative activity. 

The committee was called upon to cooperate with the War Trade Board and 
especially to supply information that would help in shaping intelligent 
export' and import policies. It was found necessary to recommend the laying 
of temporary embargoes in a few cases and to advise the restriction of ex- 
ports, especially to northern neutral countries that were asking for seed 
far in excess of their normal net importations. In Lecembcr, 1913, a 
temporary embargo was placed on the exportation of red-clover seed because 
of the apparent insufficiency of the available supply for home needs in the 
spring of 1919. This embargo remained until January 15, 1919, after which, 
as a result of more complete data, it was modified to permit the exportation 
of 3,000,000 pounds of seed to the allied countries and 2,000,000 pounds 
to the northern neutral countries. 



- £03 - 



SEED GRAIN LOANS IN DROUGHT-STRICKEN AREAS 

In the summer of 1918, representations were made that many wheat 
growers in certain sections of the West might be compelled to forego fall 
planting and even to abandon their homes unless given immediate aid. They 
had lost two successive crops by winter killing and drought and had ex- 
hausted their resources. 

At the suggestion of the Secretary of Agriculture, the President on 
July 27, placed $5,000,000 at the disposal of the Treasury Department and 
the Department of Agriculture to assist in tiding the farmers in drought- 
stricken areas over the period of stress, to enable them to remain on their 
farms and to plant such acreages as was deemed wise under all the conditions, 
to add to the National security and defense. 

The Federal Land Banks wero designated as the agents of the Government 
to make and collect the loans. The cooperation of local banks was secured 
in the taking of applications and in temporarily financing farmers pending 
advances of Federal funds. Assistant Secretary G. I. Christie was desig- 
nated to represent the Department of Agriculture in the Northwest district 
which included'the western portion of North Dakota and portions of Montana 
and Washington. Mr. C. W. Warburtcn, Agronomist in the Bureau of Plant 
Industry,was assigned as his Special Assistant with headquarters at Great- 
Falls, Mont. Mr. Leon M. Estabrook, Chief of the Bureau of Crop Estimates 
was appointed assistant to the Secretary to represent the department in 
the Southwest district, which included portions of western Kansas, Oklahoma, 
Texas and eastern New Mexico. Mr. H. N. Vinall, Agronomist in the Bureau 



- 204 - 

of Plant Industry, was assigned as special Assistant to Mr. Estabrook with 
headquarters at Wichita, Kans. Several field agents were likewise assigned 
to this work. 

Conferences were held with specialists of the State colleges of Agri- 
culture and a list was made of the counties in which it was deemed wise to 
make loans. County agents represented the Department of Agriculture, in- 
spected the field and verified the sworn statements of applicants* A limit 
of $3 an acre on not more than 100 acres was fixed. The farmers agreed to 
use seed and methods approved by the department. They signed a promissory 
note for the amount of the lean, with interest at the rate of 6 per cent 
payable in the fall of 1919, and executed a mortgage giving the Government 
a first lien on the crop to be grown on the acreage specified. Furthermore, 
provision was made for a guaranty fund, each borrower agreeing to contribute 
15 cents for each bushel in excess of a yield of 6 bushels per acre planted 
under the agreement. A maximum contribution of 75 cents per acre was fixed. 
The object of this fund is to safeguard the Government against less. If it 
exceeds the loss it will be refunded pro rata to the csntributors. 

Valuable Assistance to Fana ers 

It was recognized that there were farmers in the Northwest who would 
probably be in even more urgent need of assistance for their spring operations. 
As soon as it was seen that there would be a considerable unexpended balance 
from the fall planting activities, announcement was made that it would be 
expended for the spring planting of wheat. Since the coast of seeding 
spring wheat is greater than that for the fall, it was indicated that the 
loan 7/ould be made on the basis of $5 an acre, with a limitation of 100 
acres. 



Ob 



Number and Amount of Seed Grain Loans During 
The Fall of 1918 and the Spring of 1919. 



State 


: Fall 


Loans 


Spring Loans 


Total 




• Numbe r 


Amount 


Number 


Amount 


Number 


Amount 


Montana 


1,480 


;) 30 0,9 19 


5,284 


01,347,360 


6,764 


§2, 148, 279 


North Dakota 


33S 


65,944 


1,354 


483,567 


1,692 


549,511 


Washington 


17 


4,335 


33 


: 13,970 


: 55 


18,305 


Texas 


1,336 


292,651 






. 1,335 


292,551 


Kansas 


3,531 


943,147 






3,531 


943,147 


Oklahoma 


3,352 


773,271 






. 3,852 


773,271 


New Ivlexico 


87 


15,193 






87 


16,193 


Grand Total! 










17,317 


§4, 741, 357 



- 206 - 



THE NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

In March, 1918, the Secretary of Agriculture and the. Food Administrator 
created the National Agricultural Advisory Committee. Both of these 
officials had felt that in discharging the war responsibilities of food 
production and food conservation, they stood in need from time to time for 
consultation with representative agricultural and live-stock producers. The 
Advisory Committee, therefore, was made up of 24 representatives of all 
phases of agriculture and live-stock production and of the typically agri- 
cultural regions of the United States. 

The committee assembled in Washington on March 28 and remained in 
session until April 4. A number of subcommittees were appointed and assigned 
to studies of the larger and more critical agricultural problems confronting 
the Government. 

While the committee as a whole was not again in session, it maintained 
an office at the Department of Agriculture and its subcommittees continued 
their work until after the signing of the armistice. The work was ex- 
trememly helpful to the department in solving many of the problems in se- 
curing larger production and fuller conservation of food. 



- 207 



TKS AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION TO EUROPE 

In August, 1918, the Secretary of Agriculture appointed a commission 
to visit Europe and make a study of agricultural conditions. So far as can 
be ascertained, this was the only war commission charged with the single duty 
of investigating the conditions of agricultural production. The primary aim 
was to discover what could be done to make absolutely certain that, so far 
as food supplies were concerned, the war would be won. A secondary aim was 
to ascertain the outlook for agriculture after the war, during the period of 
reconstruction. In application, the secondary aim became the primary, for 
the armistice was signed within a few days after the commission completed 
its work and the reconstruction problems immediately superseded the war 
problems of agriculture. 

The commission was composed of eight men. Four were officials and 
experts of the Department of Agriculture. Three were officials of agri- 
cultural colleges. One was a farmer and specialist in improved plant 
breeding. 

The commission sailed on August 24 and returned November 5. During 
the interval, a detailed study was made of agricultural conditions in Great 
Britain and France, together with a less detailed study of Italian condi- 
tions. The studies both in England and France were made in cooperation with 
the Ministers of Agriculture of the twe countries. Assistance was given, 
also, by officials of Oxford and Cambridge in England and by the Institute of 
Agronomy, the Academy cf Agriculture and the Grinnon Agricultural School, 
and the National Farmers Society in France. 



- 208 - 
The reports made by the members of the commission upon their re- 
turn showed in detail the situation as to crop production and live stock 
in Western "Europe, in what particulars the various countries would be able 
to meet their own food needs and in what particulars they would require 
assistance from the United States and other countries before the 1919 
harvest. They showed, also, the outlook for planting during the spring 
of 1919, and were generally helpful in framing the agricultural policies 
for the United States during the period of reconstruction and readjustment. 



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